Communication method, communication device, and program

ABSTRACT

To further correctly obtain related information about contents being received from a server. A communication apparatus  1  successively transmits request information that requests related information about contents being received via a network  30 , at specified intervals (S 1 ), receives related information corresponding to that request information (S 2 ), temporarily stores (S 3 ), displays it (S 4 ), and performs contents updating processing. Here, if a direction to store the related information about the contents is entered, the communication apparatus  1  requests again request information for related information about contents, separately from the contents updating processing (S 10 ). Then, the communication apparatus  1  receives related information corresponding to that request information (S 11 ), and stores it (S 13 ). This enables the latest related information to be further correctly obtained out of related information concerning contents, and obtaining related information before updating is reduced.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a communication method, a communicationapparatus and a program, and more particularly relates to acommunication method, a communication apparatus and a program forcorrectly obtaining necessary information out of information providedvia a network.

BACKGROUND ART

Radio stations and television (TV) stations (hereinafter, they aresimply referred to as “broadcasting stations”) broadcast variousprograms, and audiences listen to or watch a program by selecting afrequency and receiving a broadcast signal at the predeterminedfrequency transmitted from each broadcasting station by a radio receiveror a TV receiver. In recent years, the broadcasting stations releaseinformation peculiar to each broadcasting station on the network, andprovide information on the programs that were broadcasted, such asinformation about the contents of the broadcasted programs and themusical compositions that were broadcasted in the programs, to theaudiences.

Specifically, as to a musical composition broadcasted by a radiostation, in addition to the tune title and the artist name, informationincluding the title, the serial number, the year of release, the salescompany, the broadcasting time and date, and the like, of a compact disc(CD) in that the musical composition is recorded is released on thenetwork. Further, also information about the musical compositions thatwere broadcasted in a past specific time is released. Generally, suchinformation is updated at appropriate time. Heretofore, the informationabout the musical compositions was obtained by the user by using apersonal computer (PC) or the like connected to the network.

Further, also search systems in which by using a portable auxiliaryterminal having a radio receiving section, time memorizing means, andthe like, when the user was pleased with a musical composition that wasbroadcasted, the time is memorized in the auxiliary terminal, andinformation about such musical composition is retrieved later from adatabase in that information has been stored by the broadcasting stationbased on that time via a PC or the like have been proposed (for example,see patent document 1).

In this manner, the user can obtain the information about the musicalcomposition by using a PC or an auxiliary terminal. Furthermore, alsothe distribution of a musical composition and the purchase of a CD canbe performed based on the obtained information.

Patent Document 1—Patent laid-open number 2001-273305 (paragraph number[0021]-[0029], FIG. 1).

However, actual broadcasting and updating of information obtainable bythe user is not linked correctly, and the information is usually updatedat constant intervals. Thus, if the user found a musical compositionthat he/she likes under broadcasting and thereupon performs an operationto obtain information about that musical composition by using a PC orthe like, there is a case where information obtainable by the user stillhas not been updated at the time, and the user obtains information aboutthe musical composition immediately before the musical composition thatthe user likes. Therefore, the user has to perform the operation toobtain the objective information again after waiting for updating ofobtainable information, or since it was a tune that the user listenedfor the first time, the user erroneously recognizes that thus obtainedinformation about the musical composition immediately before the tune ascorrect information.

Further, in search systems using a conventional auxiliary terminal,correct information about musical composition being broadcasted cannotbe obtained in real time.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Considering the above points, the present invention has been done andaims to provide a communication method between the information obtainingside and the information providing side such as a broadcasting stationthat enables the user who wants to obtain information to furthercorrectly obtain the latest information.

Furthermore, the present invention aims to provide a communicationapparatus and a program that enables the user who wants to obtaininformation to further correctly obtain the latest information.

To solve the above problems, in a communication method according to thepresent invention, the first transmission step of successivelytransmitting request information that requests related informationconcerning contents in a broadcasting program being received, atspecified intervals, the first receiving step of receiving relatedinformation corresponding to the request information transmitted in thefirst transmission step, the temporarily-storing step of temporarilystoring the related information received in the first receiving step intemporarily-storing means, the display step of displaying the relatedinformation temporarily stored in the temporarily-storing step, thesecond transmission step of transmitting request information thatrequests related information about contents, according to an input thatdirects to store the related information about the contents, the secondreceiving step of receiving related information corresponding to therequest information transmitted in the second transmission step, and thestoring step of storing the related information received in the secondreceiving step in storing means are provided.

According to such communication method, request information thatrequests related information concerning contents in a broadcastingprogram being received is successively transmitted at specifiedintervals, and related information corresponding to that requestinformation is received, temporarily stored, and displayed. And then, ifa command to store the related information about the contents isinputted, request information for the related information about thecontents is requested again, and related information corresponding tothat request information is received and stored.

Further, in a communication method according to the present invention,the first terminal transmission step of successively transmittingrequest information that requests related information concerningcontents in a broadcasting program being received at specified intervalsby a terminal apparatus, the first server transmission step oftransmitting related information corresponding to the requestinformation to the terminal apparatus by a server that provides theabove related information, the first terminal receiving step ofreceiving the related information transmitted by the first servertransmission step, by the terminal apparatus, the temporarily-storingstep of temporarily storing the related information received in thefirst terminal receiving step in temporarily-storing means by the aboveterminal apparatus, the display step of displaying the relatedinformation temporarily stored in the temporarily-storing step by theterminal apparatus, the second terminal transmission step oftransmitting request information that requests related information aboutcontents, according to an input that directs to store the relatedinformation about the contents by the terminal apparatus, the secondserver transmission step of transmitting related informationcorresponding to the request information transmitted in the secondterminal transmission step to the terminal apparatus by the server, andthe storing step of storing the related information transmitted in thesecond server transmission step in storing means by the terminalapparatus are provided.

According to such communication method, request information thatrequests related information concerning contents in a broadcastingprogram being received is successively transmitted at specifiedintervals, and related information corresponding to that requestinformation is, received, temporarily stored, and displayed. Then, if acommand to store the related information about the contents is inputted,request information for related information about the contents isrequested again, and related information corresponding to that requestinformation is received and stored.

Further, in a communication apparatus according to the presentinvention, first transmission means for successively transmittingrequest information that requests related information concerningcontents in a broadcasting program being received at specifiedintervals, first receiving means for receiving related informationcorresponding to the request information transmitted by the firsttransmission means, temporarily-storing means for temporarily storingthe related information received by the first receiving means, displaymeans for displaying the related information stored by thetemporarily-storing means, second transmission means for transmittingrequest information that requests related information about contents,according to an input that directs to store the related informationabout the contents, second receiving means for receiving relatedinformation corresponding to the request information transmitted by thesecond transmission means, and storing means for storing the relatedinformation received by the second receiving means are provided.

According to such communication apparatus, the first transmission meanssuccessively transmits request information that requests relatedinformation concerning contents in a broadcasting program being receivedat specified intervals. The first receiving means receives relatedinformation corresponding to that transmitted request information. Thetemporarily-storing means temporarily stores the received relatedinformation. And the display means displays the related informationtemporarily stored. Further, the second transmission means transmitsagain request information that requests related information, accordingto an input that directs to store the related information about thecontents. The second receiving means receives related informationcorresponding to that transmitted request information. And the storingmeans stores the received related information.

Furthermore, a program according to the present invention makes acomputer perform the processing for successively transmitting requestinformation that requests related information concerning contents in abroadcasting program being received at specified intervals, forreceiving related information corresponding to the transmitted requestinformation, for temporarily-storing the received related information intemporarily-storing means, for displaying the related informationtemporarily stored in the temporarily-storing means, for transmittingrequest information that requests related information about contents,according to an input that directs to store the related informationabout the contents, for receiving related information corresponding tothe request information transmitted according to the input that directsto store the related information about the contents, and for storing thereceived related information corresponding to the request informationtransmitted according to the input that directs to store the relatedinformation about the contents in storing means.

According to such program, request information that requests relatedinformation concerning contents in a broadcasting program being receivedis successively transmitted at specified intervals, related informationcorresponding to that transmitted request information is received andtemporarily stored. After the display of the related informationtemporarily stored, related information about the contents is requestedagain according to a command to store the related information about thecontents, and the related information is received and stored.

According to the present invention, related information concerningcontents in a broadcasting program being received is requested atspecified intervals, and the related information is received anddisplayed, and if there is an input that directs to store the relatedinformation about the contents, related information is requested again,and the related information is received. Therefore, among the relatedinformation, the specified information that is the latest relatedinformation when the storing was directed can be correctly obtained, andthat the user erroneously obtains information from the informationproviding side is reduced. Thus, communication between the informationobtaining side and the information providing side can be correctly andsmoothly performed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication apparatus according to thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of normal contents updatingprocessing.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow when there was an input thatdirects to store related information.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a network system in a firstembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating an appearance of a terminalunit.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of theterminal unit.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of programmodules in the terminal unit.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the flow of a clip.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a contents displayscreen.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a first example of a musicalcomposition selection screen.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a second example of a musicalcomposition selection screen.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing the whole construction of a musicrelated service provision system in a second embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of aclient terminal by functional circuit blocks.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram illustrating a directory configuration.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of aportal server by functional circuit blocks.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a musicdata distribution server by functional circuit blocks.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a tradeserver by functional circuit blocks.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a radiobroadcast information distribution server by functional circuit blocks.

FIG. 19 is a sequence chart showing a user authentication processingprocedure between the client terminal and the portal server.

FIG. 20 is a sequence chart showing a user authentication processingprocedure between the client terminal and the music data distributionserver.

FIG. 21 is a sequence chart showing a music data distribution serviceproviding processing procedure.

FIG. 22 is a sequence chart showing a trade service providing processingprocedure.

FIG. 23 is a sequence chart showing a radio broadcast information(on-air-list information) distribution service providing processingprocedure (1).

FIG. 24 is a sequence chart showing a radio broadcast information(now-on-air information) distribution service providing processingprocedure (2).

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING-OUT OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments according to the present invention will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(1) Basic Principle of This Invention

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication apparatus according to thepresent invention.

This communication apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a communicationapparatus on the information obtaining side that obtains relatedinformation concerning contents such as musical compositions in abroadcasting program distributed via a network 30. This communicationapparatus 1 has first transmission means 2 for successively transmittingrequest information that requests related information concerning suchcontents, to a communication apparatus on the information providing sidesuch as a server via the network 30, at specified intervals, forexample, every 30 seconds.

Further, the communication apparatus 1 has first receiving means 3 forreceiving related information corresponding to the request informationtransmitted by the first transmission means, via the network 30,temporarily storing means 4 for temporarily storing the received relatedinformation in a storage unit or the like, and display means 5 fordisplaying the related information temporarily stored, such as a displayunit.

The communication apparatus 1 has second transmission means 6, whenthere was an input that directs to store related information aboutcontents, for transmitting again request information that requestsrelated information about contents, to the communication apparatus onthe information providing side such as a server via the network 30.Further, the communication apparatus 1 has second receiving means 7 forreceiving related information corresponding to the request informationvia the network 30, and storing means 8 for recording and storing thereceived related information in a storage unit or the like.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are charts showing the flow of processing in thecommunication apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of normal contents updatingprocessing, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow when there was aninput that directs to store related information.

As shown in FIG. 2, when in obtaining related information about contentsby means of the communication apparatus 1 having the aboveconfiguration, the communication apparatus 1 successively transmitsrequest information that requests related information to a server or thelike at specified intervals by the first transmission means 2 (step S1),and receives related information corresponding to the transmittedrequest information by the first receiving means 3 (step S2).

The communication apparatus 1 temporarily stores the related informationreceived by the first receiving means 3 by the temporarily-storing means4 (step S3). At the same time, the communication apparatus 1 displaysthe related information temporarily stored by the display means 5 (stepS4). Such system that the communication apparatus 1 successivelyperforms polling to a server and obtains and displays relatedinformation about broadcasting contents being received in real time willbe described later, as a second embodiment with reference to a sequencechart further detailed.

If there is an input that directs to store related information aboutcontents, as shown in FIG. 3, the communication apparatus 1 transmitsagain request information that requests related information to a serveror the like by the second transmission means 6 (step S10), receivesrelated information corresponding to the transmitted request informationby the second receiving means 7 (step S11), temporarily stores thereceived related information by the temporarily-storing means 4 (stepS12), and stores the related information temporarily stored by thestoring means 8 (step S13).

In these steps S12 and S13, the received related information istemporarily stored, and then the related information temporarily storedis stored. Thereby, for instance, only the information which should bestored at last can be stored in the storing means 8 among the relatedinformation temporarily stored in the temporarily-storing means 4. Notethat, the related information received by the second receiving means 7also can be directly stored in the storing means 8 without via thetemporarily-storing means 4.

According to such communication method, normally, related informationconcerning contents in a broadcasting program being received isrequested, received and displayed at specified intervals, and when therewas an input that directs to store related information, relatedinformation is requested again. Therefore, even if contents still hasnot been updated on the display, related information about the contentswhen the storing was directed can be obtained. As a result, the latestrelated information can be correctly obtained. Thus, that erroneousinformation is stored in the communication apparatus 1 is reduced, andcommunication between the information obtaining side and the informationproviding side can be correctly and smoothly performed.

(2) First Embodiment

In a first embodiment, as an example, a network system in which theabove communication apparatus 1 is used as a terminal unit that isconnected to the server of a broadcasting station or the like via anetwork and the user of the terminal unit can obtain related informationabout musical compositions provided by the server via the network willbe described. Here, in the related information about the musiccomposition, in addition to the title and the artist name of the musicalcomposition, the title and the product number, the year of release, thesales company, of the CD or the like in that the musical composition isrecorded, and the time and date that the musical composition wasbroadcasted, and the like, are included. Hereinafter, the processing forstoring related information when the user obtains the relatedinformation about a musical composition is referred to as “clip”, andthe clipped related information is referred to as “clip information”.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating the network system in the firstembodiment.

A terminal unit 10 serving as a communication apparatus is connected tovarious servers via the network 30. The network 30 is for example theInternet. The servers are for example a CD title information provisionserver 31, a broadcasting station server 32 serving as a relatedinformation provision server, a music distribution server 33, a CD shopserver 34, and a general service server 35 serving as an authenticationserver that performs various general services, and the like.

The CD title information provision server 31 performs a distributionservice of related information about a musical composition recorded in aCD being on sale.

The broadcasting station server 32 is a server managed by a broadcastingstation of FM, TV or the like, and performs a provision service ofrelated information about a musical composition to be broadcasted. Ifroughly classifying functions for providing related information by thebroadcasting station server 32, they are classified into two as follows.The first function is a (now-on-air) function to provide relatedinformation about a musical composition being broadcasted now. Thesecond function is a function to provide a list of related informationabout musical compositions that were already broadcasted (on-air list),responding to a request from the terminal unit 10. For instance, thebroadcasting station server 32 provides related information aboutmusical compositions that were broadcasted in a specified program, orprovides related information about musical compositions that werebroadcasted within a specified time zone.

The music distribution server 33 is a server that performs a service todistribute digital data about a musical composition (musical compositiondata). For instance, the music distribution server 33 provides musicalcomposition data only to the terminal unit 10 of the user who did thepurchase procedure of the musical composition. Further, the musicdistribution server 33 can provide related information about musicalcompositions that can be distributed.

The CD shop server 34 is a server for performing the acceptance oforders or the like for mail order of CDs. The CD shop server 34 alsoperforms a distribution service of audio data for demonstration or thelike, and a provision service of related information about musicalcompositions recorded in CDs being sold.

As the above, plural servers perform provision services of informationconcerning a musical composition or a group of musical compositions onthe network 30. That is, each server functions as the source of themusical composition or the group of musical compositions on the network30. Here, normally, the information provided by each server is updatedfor example at constant intervals, and as the occasion demands, theinformation before updating is stored in a storage unit provided in eachserver, and the storage unit of an updating recording/management serverfurther separately provided, or the like.

Note that, the servers shown in FIG. 4 are an example of the apparatusthat provides the source of a musical composition or a group of musicalcompositions via the network 30. That is, provided that it is anapparatus enabling the other apparatuses to access the source of musicalcomposition or a group of musical compositions on the network 30, theapparatus can function as the source of the musical composition or thegroup of musical compositions on the network 30.

Further, the music distribution server 33 and the CD shop server 34 aremusical composition purchasable servers, and has a function to sellaudio data about a musical composition or audio data about a group ofmusical compositions by on-line. If the user accesses the musicalcomposition purchasable server by operating the terminal unit 10, theuser can practically purchase a musical composition or a group ofmusical compositions via the network 30. By performing a purchaseprocedure to the music distribution server 33, the user of the terminalunit 10 can download audio data from the music distribution server 33.Further, by performing a purchase procedure to the CD shop server 34,the user of the terminal unit 10 can have the shop deliver a CD or thelike to his/her house.

The terminal unit 10 stores the source of a musical composition or agroup of musical compositions on a local network in a recording mediumsuch as a CD 19 a′, a Mini Disc (MD, trademark) 19 b′, and a hard diskdrive (HDD) 21. These sources are different depending on the type andthe purpose of the terminal unit 10.

Note that, the source of the musical composition or the group of musicalcompositions on the local network shown in FIG. 4 is an example. Thatis, provided that it is a recording medium existing on a local networkof the terminal unit 10, by recording a musical composition or a groupof musical compositions in it, it can be functioned as the source of themusical composition or the group of musical compositions on the localnetwork.

On the other hand, the terminal unit 10 has a clip information storageunit 21 a for storing clipped related information. The clip informationstorage unit 21 a is a secondary storage unit in the terminal unit 10,and is a nonvolatile storage medium such as a hard disk, amagneto-optical disk, and a nonvolatile memory. For instance, a part ofthe memory area in the HDD or the like can be functioned as the clipinformation storage unit 21 a, and can be managed as a folder (clipfolder). Note that, the terminal unit 10 can perform clipping to both ofa musical composition and a group of musical compositions. Therefore, asto an FM program including many interesting musical compositions, a CDalbum, or the like, related information about the group of interestedmusical compositions can be stored by one clip operation, by clipping itwhole.

By the way, the terminal unit 10 in this embodiment is combined with afunction as audio equipment having a function to reproduce a musicalcomposition.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the appearance of the terminal unit.

As shown in FIG. 5, the terminal unit 10 according to this embodimenthas an appearance similar to a general system component. The terminalunit 10 is composed of a main body of unit 10 a, speakers 25 a, 25 b,and a remote controller 40. In the main body of unit 10 a, a function toplay a CD and a digital versatile disc (DVD), a function to record/playan MD, and a function to receive FM broadcasting and TV broadcasting areprovided. An audio signal generated in the main body of unit 10 a istransmitted to the speakers 25 a, 25 b, so that a sound is emitted fromthe speakers 25 a, 25 b.

Further, in the main body of unit 10 a, a display device 17 is provided.In the display device 17, related information about a musicalcomposition being reproduced, clipped related information, or the likeis displayed.

The remote controller 40 is an input unit for remotely operating themain body of unit 10 a. In the remote controller 40, plural operationkeys are provided. If an operation key is depressed by the user, asignal corresponding to the depressed operation key is transmitted fromthe remote controller 40 to the main body of unit 10 a, by radiocommunication means such as infrared rays.

As the operation keys, there are direction keys 41 a-41 d, adetermination key 42, function select keys 43 a-43 c, a tool key 44, aback key 45, and the like.

The direction keys 41 a-41 d will be used to move a cursor displayed inthe display device 17 and a position to be focused, for example. Thefour direction keys 41 a-41 d respectively correspond to each directionof up, down, left and right, and the cursor or the like is moved into adirection that corresponds to the depressed direction key.

The determination key 42 will be used to determine the contentsdisplayed in, the display device 17, for example.

The function select keys 43 a-43 c will be used to select a function.For example, the three function select keys 43 a-43 c are respectivelycorresponded to a function to use a general service, a tuner function,and a function to manage local contents. If one of the function selectkeys is depressed, the main body of unit 10 a gets into the operationmode of a function that corresponds to the depressed function selectkey.

The tool key 44 is a button to display a tool menu on the display device17. In the tool menu, commands which correspond to the contentsdisplayed in the display device 17 are displayed. The user selects anarbitrary command from the tool menu, and processing corresponding tothe command can be executed by the terminal unit 10. For instance, ifthe user selects an arbitrary command by operating the direction keys 41a-41 d and depresses the determination key 42, processing correspondingto the selected command is performed in the main body of unit 10 a.

The back key 45 is a button to return the display contents in thedisplay device 17 to the state immediately before.

Note that, in the remote controller 40, various operation keys can beprovided other than the keys shown in FIG. 5. For example, they arevolume control keys, a play key of a CD or the like, and a stop key.

Next, the internal configuration of the terminal unit 10 will bedescribed.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of theterminal unit. By such terminal unit 10 as shown in FIG. 6, management,recording and reproducing of various sources of musical compositions orthe like can be performed.

The central processing unit (CPU) 11 performs the entire control andoperation processing of the terminal unit 10, based on a startedprogram. For example, the CPU 11 performs communication operation viathe network 30, input/output operation to the user, reproducing ofcontents from media and clipping, storing contents in the HDD 21 andmanagement for it, and information search via the network 30 based onclipped related information or the like. Note that, the contents datathat the terminal unit 10 of this embodiment copes with and canrecord/reproduce is audio contents data and contents data of motionpictures. The CPU 11 transmits/receives a control signal and datato/from each circuit section via a bus 12.

In a read only memory (ROM) 13, operating programs to be executed by theCPU 11, program loaders, various coefficients of operation, parametersused in programs, and the like have been stored. In a random accessmemory (RAM) 20 serving as temporarily-storing means, a program to beexecuted by the CPU 11 is expanded. Further, they are used as a dataarea and a task area that is necessary when the CPU 11 executes variousprocessing. For instance, in the RAM 20, related information that theterminal unit 10 received from the server is temporarily stored.

The operation input section 15 has various operators such as operationkeys, a jog dial, and a touch panel that are provided in the casing ofthe terminal unit 10. Note that, a keyboard and a mouse for graphicaluser interface (GUI) operation may be provided as the operation inputsection 15. Information inputted by the operation input section 15 issubjected to predetermined processing in an input processing section 14,and the resultant signal is transmitted to the CPU 11 as an operationcommand. The CPU 11 performs operations and control necessary to obtainoperation as equipment that responds to the inputted operation command.

As the display device 17 serving as display means, a display device suchas a liquid crystal display is connected, and various information isdisplayed. If the CPU 11 supplies display data to a display processingsection 16 in accordance with various operating states, an input stateand a communication state, the display processing section 16 makes thedisplay device 17 perform display operation based on the supplieddisplay data. For example, in the display device 17, the contents ofrelated information distributed from the server and the contents of clipinformation are displayed. If the search of a musical composition isperformed via the network 30, the search result is displayed in thedisplay device 17.

The media drives 19 a, 19 b are drives that can record/reproduce thecontents of a musical composition recorded in a portable recordingmedium or the like (also there is a case of only reproducing dependingon the recording medium). Note that, the kind of recording medium thatcan be used for recording or reproducing by each of the media drives 19a, 19 b is not limited to one. That is, also recording/reproducing canbe performed to plural kinds of recording mediums. For example, themedia drive 19 a performs reproducing of a CD or a DVD, and the mediadrive 19 b performs recording/reproducing of an MD.

The portable recording medium to record the contents of a musicalcomposition or the like should not be limited to optical recordingmediums such as a CD and a DVD. For instance, contents can be recordedalso in a recording medium having a semiconductor memory such as a flashmemory. In the case, the reader/writer of the flash memory is connectedto the bus 12.

The user can view/listen to a musical composition by inserting arecording medium (such as a CD, a DVD and an MD) that arbitrary contentshave been recorded into the media drive 19 a, 19 b, and performing apredetermined operation to the remote controller 40 or the operationinput section 15. For instance, if the user operates the remotecontroller 40 for a direction to reproduce contents by the media drive19 a, the CPU 11 directs to reproduce the contents to the media drive 19a. In response to this, the media drive 19 a executes reading from theloaded recording medium, by accessing the specified contents.

If thus read contents are audio contents, the contents are subjected todecoding or the like by the processing of the CPU 11 as the occasiondemands, and then the resultant signal is transmitted to an audio dataprocessing section 24. In the audio data processing section 24, thesignal is subjected to the processing of a sound field such asequalizing, volume control, and processing such as D/A conversion andamplification, and the resultant signal is outputted from a speakersection 25. Note that, the speaker section 25 is composed of such pluralspeakers 25 a, 25 b as shown in FIG. 5, and the sound can be emitted instereo.

Further, the contents reproduced by the media drive 19 a, 19 b also canbe stored in the HDD 21 as an audio data file by the control of the CPU11. The format of this audio data file also may be set to digital audiodata at a sampling frequency 44.1 KHz in 16 bit quantization in a CDformat. To save the capacity of the HDD 21, the audio data file may beset to compressed audio data in a format that was subjected tocompression processing according to a predetermined method. Further,also the compression method is not limited to this but also advancedtransform acoustic coding (ATRAC, trademark) method, MPEG audio layer-3(MP3) method can be adopted.

A tuner 27 is for example an AM/FM radio tuner, and demodulates abroadcast signal received by an antenna 26 based on the control of theCPU 11. Of course, the tuner may be a television tuner, a satellitebroadcasting tuner, a digital broadcasting tuner, or the like. Thedemodulated broadcast audio signal is subjected to necessary processingin the audio data processing section 24, and the resultant signal isoutputted from the speaker section 25 as a broadcast sound.

A communication processing section 22 performs encoding of send data anddecoding of receive data based on the control of the CPU 11. A networkinterface 23 transmits send data encoded in the communication processingsection 22 to predetermined equipment for the external network, via thenetwork. Further, the network interface 23 supplies informationtransmitted from the equipment for the external network via the networkto the communication processing section 22. The communication processingsection 22 transmits the received information to the CPU 11. As theinformation that the terminal unit 10 transmits via the network 30,there is request information that requests related information aboutcontents, for example, related information about a musical compositionthat was broadcasted by FM radio or the like, and as the informationthat the terminal unit 10 receives, there is such related informationabout contents.

An infrared communication section 28 performs communication with theremote controller 40 by radio communication means such as infrared rays.Then, the infrared communication section 28 performs predeterminedprocessing on a signal transmitted from the remote controller 40, andtransmits thus obtained signal to the CPU 11 as an operation command.The CPU 11 performs necessary operations and control so that operationas equipment that responded to the inputted operation command can beobtained.

The processing functions of this embodiment can be realized by thehardware configuration as the above.

Note that, the configuration of the terminal unit 10 is not limited tothis configuration in FIG. 6 but it can be considered further variously.For example, an interface with peripheral equipment by a communicationmode such as the universal serial bus (USB), the IEEE1394, and theBluetooth may be provided. Then, also the audio contents downloaded bythe above network interface 23 via the network 30 and the audio contentstransmitted via an interface such as the above USB and IEEE1394 can bestored in the HDD 21. Further, a terminal which is used to connect amicrophone and an external headphone, a video output terminal which canbe used when in reproducing a DVD, a line connection terminal, anoptical digital connection terminal, or the like may be provided.Furthermore, a PCMCIA slot, a memory card slot or the like may be formedso that data can be transmitted/received to/from an external informationprocessing unit and audio equipment.

Next, the configuration of program modules in the system of thisembodiment will be described. Note that, a program module is data inthat processing to be executed by the terminal unit 10 is described, anda predetermined function can be realized by the terminal unit 10 basedon the program module. In the explanation below, the function which willbe realized by executing a program module is called by the name of theprogram module.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configuration of program modules in theterminal unit. As shown in FIG. 7, the program modules in the terminalunit 10 are formed so as to be operated on the operating system (OS).The terminal unit 10 can perform communication with the CD titleinformation provision server 31, the broadcasting station server 32, themusic distribution server 33, the CD shop server 34, the general serviceserver 35 for performing various general services, the Internet radioserver 36, and various servers other than them, by the function of eachprogram module.

A hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) message program 111 is a program toperform communication with various servers such as the CD titleinformation provision server 31, the broadcasting station server 32, theCD shop server 34, and the general service server 35, by HTTPcommunication. A communicator program 112 is a communication module toperform various communication with the general service server 35 or thelike.

A contents reproducing module 113 for interpreting the codec of contentsand reproducing the contents and a copyright protection informationmanagement module 114 for dealing information about copyright protectionare in the position of the upper directories of the communicator program112 (a function close to a user interface). As the upper directory ofthe contents reproducing module 113, an Internet radio channelselection/reproducing module 118 for performing the select andreproducing of Internet radio is provided. As the upper directory of thecopyright protection information management module 114, a musicalcomposition purchase/reproducing module 119 for controlling purchase ofa musical composition and reproducing of a tune for demonstration isprovided.

As the upper directory of these Internet radio channelselection/reproducing module 118 and musical compositionpurchase/reproducing module 119, an extensible markup language (XML)browser 151 is provided. The XML browser 151 interprets the contents ofan XML file transmitted from various servers, and performs visualdisplay on the display device 17. Further, the input contents that theuser performed to the terminal unit 10 when the terminal unit 10 is in ageneral service use mode are interpreted in the XML browser 151. Then, aprocessing request corresponding to the input contents or the like istransmitted from the XML browser 151 to another module. For instance, amusical component selected by the user through the XML browser 151 ispurchased by the musical composition purchase/reproducing module 119 andis written to the HDD 21 via a hard disk contents controller 117.

An authentication library 131 in a library 130 is connected to thecommunicator program 112. The authentication library 131 performsauthentication processing of the general service server 35 and the othervarious servers.

As the upper directories of the communicator program 112, a databaseaccess module 115, a contents data access module 116 and a hard diskcontents controller 117 are provided. The database access module 115accesses various databases constructed in the HDD 21. The contents dataaccess module 116 accesses contents stored in the HDD 21. The hard diskcontents controller 117 manages the contents stored in the HDD 21.

As the upper directories of the hard disk contents controller 117, arelated information display module 120, a tuner selection andreproducing/recording module 121 and the musical compositionpurchase/reproducing module 119 are provided. The related informationdisplay module 120 displays the title and the artist name of a musicalcomposition broadcasted by a radio station in the display device 17. Thetuner selection and reproducing/recording module 121 selects the radiostation and records the contents of the musical composition receivedfrom the above radio station on the HDD 21.

For instance, the musical composition received from the radio stationthat was selected through an audio user interface (Audio UI) 152 iswritten to the HDD 21 via the contents data access module 116.

The related information display module 120 receives the title and theartist name of the musical composition broadcasted by the radio stationas related information by the tuner selection and reproducing/recordingmodule 121, from the CD title information provision server 31, thebroadcasting station server 32 or the like via the HTTP message program111, and displays this in the display device 17 via the audio userinterface 152.

Note that, the related information to be displayed in the display device17 via the audio user interface 152 can be temporarily stored in a cliplibrary 132 in the library 130. Also, the related information can befinally stored in the HDD 21 via the database access module 115,according to a direction from the user.

Further, as the program modules in the terminal unit 10, a CDreproducing module 141 for reproducing a CD, and an HDD reproducingmodule 142 for reproducing the HDD 21 are included. The reproducingresult is outputted through the audio data processing section 24 and thespeaker section 25.

In the terminal unit 10 having such configuration, related informationcan be received from a server, and the related information can beclipped. Note that, in addition to clip, also a search and purchaseprocessing of a musical composition can be performed.

Next, the processing when in clipping related information by means ofthe terminal unit 10 having the above configuration will be described.Here, clip of related information in the case where a radio stationbroadcasts a program by radio communication means and also distributesits program information to the terminal unit 10 via the network 30 willbe described as an example.

Generally, radio stations broadcast various programs by radiocommunication means. To listen to a specified program, the user of theterminal unit 10 tunes the terminal unit 10 to the frequency of thebroadcast signal of the radio station that broadcasts the program, sothat the broadcast signal is received by the antenna 26. The broadcastsignal is demodulated by the tuner 27, and then the demodulated signalis subjected to the processing in the audio data processing section 24,and the resultant signal is outputted from the speaker section 25 as abroadcast sound.

In addition to such program broadcasting, the radio station distributesprogram information on the program to various terminal units, from thebroadcasting station server 32 in the radio station via the network 30.If general services are available by the terminal unit 10, the user ofthe terminal unit 10 can refer to the display device 17 for the contentsof the distributed program information.

For example, as shown in FIG. 9, contents to be displayed in the displaydevice 17 are now-on-air information in that the radio station name 130,the frequency of the radio station 104, the time 105, the program title106 and the name of host 107, and the like are displayed other than thetune title 101 and the artist name 102 of a music composition that wasbroadcasted or being broadcasted now by the radio station. Relatedinformation concerning such contents is the title, the product number,the year of release, the sales company, and the like, of the CD or thelike in that the musical composition is recorded, other than the title101 and the artist name 102 of the musical composition.

Such contents are usually updated in the terminal unit 10 at specifiedintervals. At the time, the terminal unit 10 first successivelytransmits request information that requests related information aboutthe contents to the broadcasting station server 32, at constantintervals of 30 seconds, for example. The broadcasting station server 32which received the request information transmits related informationcorresponding to the request information to the terminal unit 10 via thenetwork 30. In the terminal unit 10, the received related information istemporarily stored, in the RAM 20, for example. Here, the storage mediumfor temporarily storing the above related information is not limited tothe RAM. Because the related information may be deleted when the powerof this unit was cut off, it may be a volatile storage medium, however,it also may be a nonvolatile storage medium. In the display device 17 ofthe terminal unit 10, display is performed by means of the contents ofthe related information temporarily stored in the RAM 20 or the like,and a contents display screen is updated every time when new relatedinformation is stored.

Note that, in the broadcasting station server 32, distributing relatedinformation is updated at constant intervals separately from updatingprocessing on the terminal unit 10 side. At that time, relatedinformation before updating is stored in a storage medium such as theHDD 21.

In the above updating of contents along with the progression ofbroadcast, if a musical composition that the user prefers isbroadcasted, the user can clip related information about the musicalcomposition while listening to the broadcast.

FIG. 8 is a chart showing the flow of clip. FIG. 9 is an example of acontents display screen. FIG. 10 is a first example of a musicalcomposition selection screen. And FIG. 11 is a second example of themusical composition selection screen.

When in clipping, the user first selects a musical composition beingdisplayed by operating the remote controller 40 or the operation inputsection 15 (step S20). In the example shown in FIG. 9, for example, ifthe tool key 44 in the remote controller 40 is depressed by the user,each command of “tool”, “setting”, “edit”, “display”, “detailedinformation”, “mode switching” and “clip” is displayed in a tool menu100. Here, if the user adjusts focus or the like to “clip” by operatingthe direction key 41 a or the direction key 41 b and depresses thedetermination key 42, the musical composition being displayed now in thedisplay device 17 (title A, artist a) is selected.

However, the contents of contents being displayed in the display device17 are updated at constant intervals in the terminal unit 10, so thatthe contents sometimes coincide with the current broadcasting contentsand sometimes not. Therefore, the musical composition being displayedthat the user selected is not limited to be a musical composition thatthe user preferred when the user listened to the broadcasting. Forinstance, there is a case where under broadcasting, if a certain musicalcomposition was begun to play and the user preferred this and selectsimmediately the musical composition being displayed at the time in orderto clip related information about it, the musical composition beingdisplayed is a musical composition that was broadcasted preceding themusical composition being broadcasted now that the user tried to clip.

If the musical composition being displayed is selected by the user, acommand to clip related information is inputted to the terminal unit 10.Responding to this input, request information that requests relatedinformation about contents is transmitted again to the broadcastingstation server 32 via the network 30, separately from normal contentsupdating processing (step S21). Thereby, the occurrence of clipoperation is notified the broadcasting station server 32.

By receiving the notification of occurrence of clip operation, in thebroadcasting station server 32, as related information corresponding tothe request information, related information before updating that hasbeen stored in a storage device or the like is retrieved, and relatedinformation about the musical composition being broadcasted now andrelated information about N pieces of musical compositions that werebroadcasted immediately before this musical composition is transmittedto the terminal unit 10 (step S22). At the time, the number N of themusical compositions to be requested related information about it can bepreviously arbitrarily set by the user on the terminal unit 10 side.

If the terminal unit 10 receives a total of N+1 pieces of relatedinformation, the related information is temporarily stored in the RAM 20or the like, for example. Then, as shown in FIG. 10, a list 109 of thetimes to start broadcasting 108, the titles of these tunes (title A, B,C) and the artist names (artist a, b, c), of three pieces of respectivemusical compositions (hereinafter, this is referred to as a “musicalcomposition list”) is displayed (step S23). Note that, in the case whereplural musical compositions are included in the musical composition list109, the musical composition list 109 is an on-air list.

In the musical composition list 109, the musical composition which wasdisplayed when the clip operation was performed, and the musicalcompositions which were displayed before the clip operation areincluded. Further, in the case where related information stored in thebroadcasting station server 32 has been updated to related informationabout a musical composition being broadcasted now when that clipoperation was performed, the musical composition after updating isincluded in the musical composition list 109.

For instance, in the case where the musical composition (title A, artista) that was displayed when in selecting a musical composition shown inFIG. 9 agrees with the musical composition that was broadcasted when inselecting the musical composition, as shown in FIG. 10, the musicalcomposition that the user intends to clip (title A, artist a) isdisplayed at the top of the musical composition list 109. Following it,the musical compositions (title B, artist b, title C, artist c) thatwere broadcasted previous to that musical composition are displayed inthe order that the time to start broadcasting is late from the upper.

On the other hand, in the case where the musical composition (title A,artist a) that was displayed when in selecting the musical compositionshown in FIG. 9 is a musical composition immediately before the musicalcomposition (title D, artist d) that was broadcasted when in selectingthe musical composition, if updating in the broadcasting station server32 has finished, as shown in FIG. 11, the musical composition (title D,artist d) that the user intends to clip is displayed at the top of themusical composition list 109. Following it, the musical compositions(title A, artist a, title B, artist b) that were broadcasted previous tothat are displayed in the order that the time to start broadcasting islate from the upper.

Therefore, the user can specify the musical composition that he/she waspleased and originally intended to clip from the time to startbroadcasting, the tune title and the artist name, by referring to themusical composition list 109, and can recognize that the latest musicalcomposition in the musical composition list 109 is the musicalcomposition that the he/she originally intended to clip.

The user selects a musical composition that he/she wants to finally clipwith the remote controller 40 or the like. For instance, when themusical composition list 109 is being displayed, the user selects themusical composition by means of the direction keys 41 a, 41 b and thedetermination key 42 in the remote controller 40.

Further, in the terminal unit 10, if setting focus or the like to thelatest musical composition that will be displayed at the top of the listat the same time as the display of the musical composition list 109, theuser can select the latest musical composition only by depressing thedetermination key 42 in the remote controller 40. In this case, from thetime when the user selected a musical composition in step S20 whilelistening to a broadcast, the user can select the latest musicalcomposition without viewing the display in the display device 17.

If a musical composition is selected from the displayed musicalcomposition list 109 (step S24), the terminal unit 10 records relatedinformation about the selected musical composition in a clip folder inthe clip information storage unit 21 a, and completes the clip of therelated information (step S25).

Note that, also plural musical compositions can be selected from themusical composition list 109, not only one musical composition. Thus,plural related information can be clipped at once.

According to the above construction, provided that related informationin the broadcasting station server 32 has been updated to relatedinformation about the musical composition being broadcasted when clipoperation was performed, that is, when there was an input to directclip, the user can get the latest related information in real time.Therefore, that related information about a musical compositionimmediately before is erroneously clipped is decreased, and targetrelated information to be originally clipped can be correctly clipped.Furthermore, the latest related information can be obtained withoutwaiting for normal contents updating processing on the terminal unit 10side.

(3) Second Embodiment

In a second embodiment, a service system in which a service that theuser can obtain related information about broadcast contents beingreceived in real time by that a communication unit successively performspolling to a server and it can be displayed is realized by one of pluralservice servers, as described above with reference to FIG. 2, will bedescribed. This service system has a single sign-on function. Note that,because clipping processing is the same as the aforementioned firstembodiment, the description will be omitted.

(3-1) System Configuration

Referring to FIG. 12, a music related service provision system servingas the service system is denoted by 1000 as a whole, and has the clientterminal 1002 of the user who contracts with the administrator dealer ofthis music related service provision system 1000, a portal server 1003for managing the above client terminal 1002 serving as a service server,and plural servers 1004-1008 for providing various services concerningmusic for the above client terminal 1002.

In this embodiment, the music data distribution server 1004 providesmusic data distribution services for distributing music data in theformats such as the adaptive transform acoustic coding 3 (ATRAC3), theadvanced audio coding (AAC), the Windows media audio (WMA), theRealAudio G2 music codec, and the MPEG audio layer 3 (MP3), to theclient terminal 1002.

The trade server 1005 provides trade services for selling a compact disc(CD), a digital versatile disc (DVD), or the like, to the user via theclient terminal 1002.

The radio broadcasting information distribution server 1006 providesradio broadcasting information distribution services for distributingradio broadcasting information about a radio program by radiobroadcasting broadcasted by a radio station, music, and the like,broadcasted via a radio station, to the client terminal 1002.

The Internet radio server 1007 provides Internet radio broadcastingservices for broadcasting radio broadcasting data to the client terminal1002 via a network NT1000 that corresponds to the Internet, in theformat of streaming distribution.

In addition to this, the account server 1008 performs chargingprocessing for charging the user various charges, according to a requestfrom the portal server 1003 or the like.

Note that, the client terminal 1002 in this second embodimentcorresponds to the terminal unit 10 in the first embodiment. The portalserver 1003 corresponds to the general service server 35. The music datadistribution server 1004 corresponds to the music distribution server33. The trade server 1005 corresponds to the CD shop server 34. Theradio broadcasting information distribution server 1006 corresponds tothe broadcasting station server 32. And the network NT1000 correspondsto the network 30.

(3-2) Configuration of Client Terminal 1002

(3-2-1) Functional Circuit Block Configuration of Client Terminal 1002

The hardware configuration of the functional circuit blocks of theclient terminal 1002 serving as a communication unit will be described.As shown in FIG. 13, if an operation input section 1020 formed byvarious operation buttons provided on the surface of the casing or aremote controller (not shown) is operated by the user, the clientterminal 1002 recognizes this in the above operation input section 1020,and transmits an operation input signal according to the above operationto an input processing section 1021.

The input processing section 1021 converts the operation input signalsupplied from the operation input section 1020 into a specifiedoperation command, and transmits the command to a control section 1023via a bus 1022.

The control section 1023 controls the operation of each of thesecircuits based on an operation command and a control signal that aresupplied from each circuit connected via the bus 1022.

A display control section 1024 performs digital-to-analog conversion onvideo data supplied via the bus 1022, and transmits thus obtained analogvideo signal to a display section 1025.

The display section 1025 is a display device such as a liquid crystaldisplay, and is sometimes directly attached to the surface of the casingand is sometimes externally provided.

If a processing result by the control section 1023 or various video datais supplied as an analog video signal to the display section 1025 viathe display control section 1024, an image based on the above analogvideo signal is displayed.

An audio control section 1026 performs digital-to-analog conversion onaudio data supplied via the bus 1022, and transmits thus obtained analogaudio signal to a speaker 1027. The speaker 1027 emits a sound based onthe analog audio signal supplied from the audio control section 1026.

An external recording medium recording/reproducing section 1028 is arecording/reproducing section for reading contents data recorded in anexternal recording medium such as a CD and a memory stick (registeredtrademark) in that a flash memory is contained in an outer case andreproducing it, or for recording contents data to be recorded in theabove external recording medium.

If reading video data from an external recording medium as contentsdata, the external recording medium recording/reproducing section 1028supplies the above read video data to the display control section 1024via the bus 1022.

The display control section 1024 converts the video data read from theexternal recording medium as contents data by the external recordingmedium recording/reproducing section 1028 into an analog video signal,and supplies the signal to the display section 1025.

On the other hand, if reading audio data from an external recordingmedium as contents data, the external recording mediumrecording/reproducing section 1028 supplies the above read audio data tothe audio control section 1026 via the bus 1022.

The audio control section 1026 converts the audio data read from theexternal recording medium as contents data by the external recordingmedium recording/reproducing section 1028 into an analog audio signal,and supplies the signal to the speaker 1027.

Further, the control section 1023 can transmit contents data read froman external recording medium by the external recording mediumrecording/reproducing section 1028 to a storage medium 1029 in theclient terminal 1002 via the bus 1022, so that the above contents datacan be stored in the storage medium 1029 (hereinafter, storing contentsdata in the storage medium 1029 as the above is referred to as ripping).

Then, if video data such as image data and motion picture data is readfrom the storage medium 1029 as contents data, the control section 1023supplies the above read video data to the display control section 1024via the bus 1022.

If audio data such as audio data is read from the storage medium 1029 ascontents data, the control section 1023 supplies the above read audiodata to the audio control section 1026 via the bus 1022.

In addition to this, the control section 1023 also can read music datafrom the storage medium 1029 and can transfer the read data to theexternal recording medium recording/reproducing section 1028, so thatthe music data can be recorded in an external recording medium by theabove external recording medium recording/reproducing section 1028.

A broadcast signal receiving section 1030 receives a radio broadcastwave transmitted from each radio station, and supplies the wave to atuner section 1031.

The tuner section 1031 extracts a radio broadcast signal at a broadcastfrequency corresponding to a radio station that was specified forexample via the operation input section 1020 from radio broadcast wavesreceived via the broadcast signal receiving section 1030, performspredetermined receiving processing on the extracted signal, andtransmits thus obtained audio data to the audio control section 1026 viathe bus 1022, under the control of the control section 1023.

The audio control section 1026 transmits the audio data supplied fromthe tuner section 1031 into an analog audio signal and transmits thesignal to the speaker 1027, so that the sound of the radio programbroadcasted by the radio station is emitted from the above speaker 1027.Thus, the user can listen to the sound of the radio program.

Furthermore, the control section 1023 can transmit the audio dataobtained in the tuner section 1031 to the storage medium 1029 so as tostore the data, so that also the sound of the radio program can berecorded.

Further, the control section 1023 can connect the client terminal 1002to the network NT1000 sequentially via a communication control section1032 and a network interface 1033, and can access the portal server 1003and the other servers 1004 to 1007 on the above network NT1000. Thereby,various information and various data can be transmitted/received to/fromthe portal server 1003 and the other servers 1004 to 1007.

An encoder/decoder section 1034 decodes compressively-coded contentsdata received from the network NT1000 sequentially via the networkinterface 1033 and the communication control section 1032, orcompressively-coded contents data read from the storage medium 1029 andan external recording medium, and transmits the decoded data to thedisplay control section 1024 and the audio control section 1026.

Further, the encoder/decoder section 1034 compressively codes contentsdata not compressively coded and read from an external recording medium,audio data supplied from the tuner section 1031, or the like, andtransmits the above compressively-coded contents data to the storagemedium 1029.

Thus, the contents data compressively coded in the encoder/decodersection 1034 is stored in the storage medium 1029, under the control ofthe communication control section 1023.

A copyright management section 1035 generates copyright managementinformation that corresponds to contents data downloaded from thenetwork NT1000 sequentially via the network interface 1033 and thecommunication control section 1032, and copyright management informationthat corresponds to contents data read from an external recording mediumby the external recording medium recording/reproducing section 1028.

The copyright management information generated in the copyrightmanagement section 1035 is registered in the storage medium 1029 inassociation with the contents data, under the control of the controlsection 1023.

Further, when contents data associated with copyright managementinformation is checked out from the storage medium 1029 to a specifiedexternal recording medium, and when contents data associated with theabove copyright management information is checked in from the abovespecified external recording medium to the storage medium 1029, thecopyright management section 1035 properly updates the contents of thecopyright management information corresponding to the above contentsdata. Thereby, the copyright for the contents data is protected.

A page information generating section 1036 interprets page informationsuch as an extensible markup language (XML) file, and a hypertext markuplanguage (HTML) file, received from the network NT1000 sequentially viathe network interface 1033 and the communication control section 1032,generates video data to be displayed in the display section 1025, andtransmits the above generated video data to the display control section1024.

An authentication processing section 1037 performs authenticationprocessing such as transmitting authentication information to the portalserver 1003 and the other servers 1004 to 1007 on the network NT1000connected via the network interface 1033, sequentially via thecommunication control section 1032 and the network interface 1033.

An authentication information storing section 1038 stores authenticationinformation that is necessary when the authentication processing section1037 accesses the portal server 1003 and the other servers 1004 to 1007.

A radio broadcasting display control section 1039 transmits a requestsignal for requesting radio broadcast information about radiobroadcasting being received now for listening by the user, to a radiobroadcasting information distribution server 1006 that corresponds tothe radio station broadcasting the above radio broadcasting beingreceived, sequentially via the communication control section 1032 andthe network interface 1033.

As a result, the radio broadcasting display control section 1039receives the radio broadcast information transmitted from the radiobroadcasting information distribution server 1006 on the network NT1000,sequentially via the network interface 1033 and the communicationcontrol section 1032, and transmits the above received radio broadcastinformation to the display control section 1024. Thereby, the radiobroadcast information formed by the program title of the radio programbeing received now, the title and the artist name of the above musicalcomposition being received, and the like, is displayed in the displaysection 1025. Note that, this radio broadcast information corresponds tothe related information in the aforementioned first embodiment.

By the way, in the program modules (FIG. 7) in the terminal unit 10described in the aforementioned first embodiment, the HTTP messageprogram 111 and the communicator program 112 are program modules thatcan realize the same function as the communication control section 1032(FIG. 13) of the client terminal 1002 in this second embodiment.

The contents reproducing module 113 (FIG. 7) is a program module thatcan realize the same function as the encoder/decoder section 1034 (FIG.13) of the client terminal 1002.

Further, the copyright protection information management module 114(FIG. 7) is a program module that can realize the same function as thecopyright management section 1035 (FIG. 13) of the client terminal 1002.

Further, the Internet radio channel selection/reproducing module 118(FIG. 7) is a program module that can realize the same function as thecontrol section 1023 and the audio control section 1026 (FIG. 13) of theclient terminal 1002.

Further, the musical composition purchase/reproducing module 119 (FIG.7) is a program module that can realize the same function as the controlsection 1023 and the audio control section 1026 (FIG. 13) of the clientterminal 1002.

Further, the XML browser 151 (FIG. 7) is a program module that canrealize the same function as the input processing section 1021 and thepage information generating section 1036 (FIG. 13) of the clientterminal 1002.

Further, the hard disk contents controller 117, the database accessmodule 115 and the contents data access module 116 (FIG. 7) are programmodules that can realize the same function as the control section 1023(FIG. 13) of the client terminal 1002.

Further, the authentication library 131 in the library 130 (FIG. 7) is aprogram module that can realize the same function as the authenticationprocessing section 1037 and the authentication information storingsection 1038 (FIG. 13) of the client terminal 1002.

Further, the clip library 132 in the library 130 (FIG. 7) is a programmodule that can realize the same function as the control section 1023(FIG. 13) of the client terminal 1002.

Further, the related information display module 120 (FIG. 7) is aprogram module that can realize the same function as the radiobroadcasting display control section 1039 (FIG. 13) of the clientterminal 1002.

Further, the tuner selection and reproducing/recording module 121 (FIG.7) is a program module that can realize the same function as the controlsection 1023, the audio control section 1026 and the tuner section 1031(FIG. 13) of the client terminal 1002.

Further, the audio user interface 152 (FIG. 7) is a program module thatcan realize the same function as the input processing section 1021, thecontrol section 1023 and the display control section 1024 (FIG. 13) ofthe client terminal 1002.

Further, the CD reproducing module 141 (FIG. 7) is a program module thatcan realize the same function as the audio control section 1026 and theexternal recording medium recording/reproducing section 1028 (FIG. 13)of the client terminal 1002.

Further, the HDD reproducing module 142 (FIG. 7) is a program modulethat can realize the same function as the control section 1023 and theaudio control section 1026 (FIG. 13) of the client terminal 1002.

Therefore, also in the terminal unit 10 having the hardware circuitblock configuration in the aforementioned first embodiment, the CPU 11can perform the same processing as the client terminal 1002 having thefunctional circuit blocks in this second embodiment, according to theaforementioned various program modules.

(3-2-2) Directory Management

The control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002 manages contentsdata to be stored in the storage medium 1029 in a directory structureshown in FIG. 14. First, as the subdirectories of a “root” directory,arbitrary number within the prescribed range of “folder” directories arecreated. This “folder” directory is created corresponding to the genrethat contents belong, the owner user, or the like, for example.

As the subdirectory of this “folder” directory, arbitrary number, withinthe prescribed range, of “album” directories are created. The above“album” directory corresponds to each one album title, for example. Asthe subdirectories of this “album” directory, one or more “track” fileswhich belong to the “album” directory are stored. This “track” filebecomes one musical composition, that is, contents.

The directory management of such contents data will be performed by adatabase file stored in the storage medium 1029.

(3-3) Functional Circuit Block Configuration of Portal Server

Next, the hardware configuration of the functional circuit blocks of theportal server 1003 serving as an authentication server will bedescribed, with reference to FIG. 15. The control section 1050 in theportal server 1003 controls the operation of each circuit connected viaa bus 1051.

A communication control section 1052 transmits/receives variousinformation to/from the client terminal 1002, the other servers 1004 to1007, and the like, via a network interface 1053, under the control ofthe control section 1050.

In a customer database section 1054, user identification (ID)information and password information about the user who alreadycompleted a contract with the administrator dealer of the music relatedservice provision system 1000 has been registered in association witheach other, as customer information.

In a page information storing section 1055, page information managed bythe administrator dealer of the music related service provision system1000 or the like has been stored.

Note that, the page information is described by a language such as theXML, and includes uniform resource locator (URL) information foraccessing the music data distribution server 1004, the trade server1005, the radio broadcasting information distribution server 1006 andthe Internet radio server 1007, and the like.

If the user ID information and password information transmitted from theclient terminal 1002 is received sequentially via the network interface1053 and the communication control section 1052, as user authenticationprocessing, an authentication processing section 1056 confirms whetheror not the above received user ID information and password informationhas been registered in the customer database section 1054 as customerinformation.

Then, if the user authentication processing is finished, theauthentication processing section 1056 issues portal authenticationresult information showing the result of the above user authenticationprocessing (authentication session ID information that will be describedlater), and temporarily stores the above issued portal authenticationresult information in an authentication information storing section1057.

At this time, as the result of the user authentication processing by theauthentication processing section 1056, if the user is authenticated asa legal user, the control section 1050 transmits page information forcontractor stored in the page information storing section 1055, togetherwith portal authentication result information, to the client terminal1002 sequentially via the communication control section 1052 and thenetwork interface 1053.

Note that, as the result of the user authentication processing by theauthentication processing section 1056, if the user is not authenticatedas a legal user, the control section 1050 may transmit authenticationerror information, together with authentication failure notificationpage information showing the failure of the authentication stored in thepage information storing section 1055, to the client terminal 1002sequentially via the communication control section 1052 and the networkinterface 1053.

Further, as a result that authentication processing of the user wasperformed from the music data distribution server 1004, the trade server1005 and the radio broadcasting information distribution server 1006, ifportal authentication result information (an authentication ticket thatwill be described later) obtained and transmitted from the clientterminal 1002 of the above user's is received sequentially via thenetwork interface 1053 and the communication control section 1052, theauthentication processing section 1056 compares the above receivedportal authentication result information with the portal authenticationresult information corresponding to the above user temporarily stored inthe authentication information storing section 1057.

As authentication processing of the portal authentication resultinformation received from the music data distribution server 1004, thetrade server 1005 and the radio broadcasting information distributionserver 1006, the authentication processing section 1056 performsconfirmation processing for confirming whether or not to be regularportal authentication result information, and returns confirmationresult information showing the confirmation result to the above musicdata distribution server 1004, the trade server 1005 and the radiobroadcasting information distribution server 1006, sequentially via thecommunication control section 1052 and the network interface 1053.

In a frequency information storing section 1058, an area code such as azip code capable of specifying an area, frequency information showingthe broadcast frequency of radio broadcasting that can be received inthe area shown by that area code, the name a radio station broadcastingthe above radio broadcasting (hereinafter, this is referred to as aradio station name), and a call sign being identification informationunique to the above radio station have been stored in association witheach other.

In a URL storing section 1059, the call sign of each radio station forradio broadcasting, and URL information by which on a radio programbeing broadcasted now provided by the radio station corresponding to theabove call sign, radio broadcasting information composed of the programtitle of the above radio program, the title of the musical compositionbeing on air now in that radio program, and the like, (hereinafter, thisis specially referred to as now-on-air information) can be obtained havebeen stored in association with each other.

(3-4) Functional Circuit Block Configuration of Music Data DistributionServer 1004

Next, the hardware configuration of the functional circuit blocks of themusic data distribution server 1004 will be described with reference toFIG. 16. A control section 1070 in the music data distribution server1004 controls the operation of each circuit connected via a bus 1071.

A communication control section 1072 transmits/receives variousinformation and various data such as contents data to/from the clientterminal 1002, the portal server 1003, and the like, via a networkinterface 1073, under the control of the control section 1070.

In a customer database section 1074, user ID information and passwordinformation about the user who already completed a contract with theadministrator dealer of the music data distribution server 1004 havebeen registered in association with each other, as customer information.However, in the case where an authentication processing section 1075 hasa function to perform authentication processing of the user based onportal authentication result information issued by the portal server1003 that is transmitted from the client terminal 1002, the customerdatabase section 1074 may not be provided.

In a page information storing section 1076, page information for musicdata distribution that introduces downloadable music data managed by themusic data distribution server 1004, or the like, has been stored.

In this connection, the page information for music data distribution isdescribed by a language such as the XML. It can make the user using theclient terminal 1002 select music data that the user wants to download.

Then, if a page information acquisition request signal for requestingpage information for music data distribution that was transmitted fromthe client terminal 1002 is received sequentially via the networkinterface 1073 and the communication control section 1072, the controlsection 1070 transmits the page information for music data distributionstored in the page information storing section 1076 to the clientterminal 1002 sequentially via the communication control section 1072and the network interface 1073, according to the above received pageinformation acquisition request signal.

If user ID information and password information about the user using theclient terminal 1002 that was transmitted from the above client terminal1002 is received sequentially via the network interface 1073 and thecommunication control section 1072, as user authentication processing,the authentication processing section 1075 confirms whether or not theabove received user ID information and password information has beenregistered in the customer database section 1074 as customerinformation.

Further, as a user authentication method different from the userauthentication processing that uses the user ID information and thepassword information, the authentication processing section 1075receives portal authentication result information issued in the portalserver 1003 (an authentication ticket that will be described later) thatwas transmitted from the above client terminal 1002 sequentially via thenetwork interface 1073 and the communication control section 1072, andtransmits the above received portal authentication result information tothe portal server 1003 sequentially via the communication controlsection 1072 and the network interface 1073.

Then, the authentication processing section 1075 receives confirmationresult information returned as a result that authentication processingof the portal authentication result information (that is, theaforementioned confirmation processing) was performed responding to thetransmission of the portal authentication result information to theportal server 1003, from the above portal server 1003 sequentially viathe network interface 1073 and the communication control section 1072,and confirms whether or not the user is a regular user who alreadycompleted a contract with the administrator dealer of the music relatedservice provision system 1000, based on the above received confirmationresult information.

In this manner, if the user authentication processing is finished, theauthentication processing section 1075 issues server authenticationresult information showing the result of the user authenticationprocessing (service session ID information that will be describedlater).

At this time, as the result of the user authentication processing by theauthentication processing section 1075, if the user is authenticated asa regular user, the control section 1070 transmits page information formusic data distribution stored in the page information storing section1076 for contractor, together with the server authentication resultinformation, to the client terminal 1002 sequentially via thecommunication control section 1072 and the network interface 1073.

On the contrary, as the result of the user authentication processing bythe authentication processing section 1075, if the user was notauthenticated as a regular user, the control section 1070 transmitsauthentication error information, together with authentication failurenotification page information showing the failure of the authenticationstored in the page information storing section 1076, to the clientterminal 1002 sequentially via the communication control section 1072and the network interface 1073.

By the way, in an authentication information storing section 1077,server authentication result information issued by the authenticationprocessing section 1075 is temporarily stored, and also variousauthentication information that is necessary to perform userauthentication processing of the user using the client terminal 1002 bythe above authentication processing section 1075 has been stored.

In a music data storing section 1078, plural music data compressivelycoded in the aforementioned ATRAC3 format, MP3 format, or the like, hasbeen stored in association with the search key of each contents IDinformation or the like.

As a result that page information for music data distribution wastransmitted to the client terminal 1002, if a download request signal inwhich a search key for retrieving music data wanted to download has beenstored, which requests to download the music data wanted to download,and which was transmitted from the above client terminal 1002 isreceived sequentially via the network interface 1073 and thecommunication control section 1072, a retrieval section 1079 extractsthat search key from the above received download request signal.

Then, the retrieval section 1079 retrieves the music data wanted todownloaded that corresponds to the search condition shown by the abovesearch key out of plural music data in the music data storing section1078, based on the above search key.

The control section 1070 transmits that retrieved music data wanted todownload to the client terminal 1002, sequentially via the communicationcontrol section 1072 and the network interface 1073.

Further, at this time, the control section 1070 transmits accountinformation for charging processing to the user for the download of themusic data to the client terminal 1002 to an account server 1008,sequentially via the communication control section 1072 and the networkinterface 1073, in order to make the account server 1008 perform theprocessing to charge the above user for the download of the music data.

(3-5) Functional Circuit Block Configuration of Trade Server 1005

Next, the hardware configuration of the trade server 1005 by functionalcircuit blocks will be described with reference to FIG. 17. A controlsection 1090 in the trade server 1005 controls the operation of eachcircuit connected via a bus 1091.

A communication control section 1092 transmits/receives variousinformation to/from the client terminal 1002, the portal server 1003,and the like, via a network interface 1093, under the control of thecontrol section 1090.

In a customer database section 1094, user ID information and passwordinformation about the user who already completed a contract with theadministrator dealer of the trade server 1005 has been registered inassociation with each other, as customer information. However, in thecase where an authentication processing section 1095 has a function toperform authentication processing of the user based on the portalauthentication result information issued by the portal server 1003 thatwas transmitted from the client terminal 1002, the customer databasesection 1094 may not be provided.

In a page information storing section 1096, page information for packagemedia sale for introducing package media such as CDs and DVDs for salethat is managed by the trade server 1005, or the like, has been stored.

In this connection, the page information for package media sale isdescribed by a language such as the XML. It can make the user using theclient terminal 1002 select package media such as a CD or a DVD that theuser wants to purchase.

Then, if a page information acquisition request signal for requestingpage information for package media sale that was transmitted from theclient terminal 1002 is received sequentially via the network interface1093 and the communication control section 1092, the control section1090 transmits the page information for package media sale stored in thepage information storing section 1096 to the client terminal 1002sequentially via the communication control section 1092 and the networkinterface 1093, according to the above received page informationacquisition request signal.

If user ID information and password information about the user using theclient terminal 1002 that was transmitted from the above client terminal1002, is received sequentially via the network interface 1093 and thecommunication control section 1092, as user authentication processing,the authentication processing section 1095 confirms whether or not theabove received user ID information and password information has beenregistered in the customer database section 1094 as customerinformation.

Further, as a user authentication method different from the userauthentication processing using the user ID information and passwordinformation, the authentication processing section 1095 receives portalauthentication result information issued in the portal server 1003 thatwas transmitted from the client terminal 1002 (an authentication ticketthat will be described later) sequentially via the network interface1093 and the communication control section 1092, and transmits the abovereceived portal authentication result information to the portal server1003 sequentially via the communication control section 1092 and thenetwork interface 1093.

Then, the authentication processing section 1095 receives confirmationresult information returned as a result that authentication processingof the portal authentication result information (that is, theaforementioned confirmation processing) was performed responding to thetransmission of the portal authentication result information to theportal server 1003, from the above portal server 1003 sequentially viathe network interface 1093 and the communication control section 1092,and confirms whether or not the user is a regular user who alreadycompleted a contract with the administrator dealer of the music relatedservice provision system 1000, based on the above received confirmationresult information.

In this manner, if the user authentication processing is finished, theauthentication processing section 1095 issues server authenticationresult information showing the result of that user authenticationprocessing (service session ID information that will be describedlater).

At this time, as the result of the user authentication processing by theauthentication processing section 1095, if the user is authenticated asa regular user, the control section 1090 transmits page information forpackage media sale stored in the page information storing section 1096for contractor, together with the server authentication resultinformation, to the client terminal 1002 sequentially via thecommunication control section 1092 and the network interface 1093.

On the contrary, as the result of the user authentication processing bythe authentication processing section 1095, if the user was notauthenticated as a regular user, the control section 1090 transmitsauthentication error information, together with authentication failurenotification page information showing the failure of the authenticationstored in the page information storing section 1096, to the clientterminal 1002 sequentially via the communication control section 1092and the network interface 1093.

By the way, in an authentication information storing section 1097,server authentication result information issued by the authenticationprocessing section 1095 is temporarily stored, and also variousauthentication information that is necessary to perform userauthentication processing of the user using the client terminal 1002 bythe above authentication processing section 1095 has been stored.

In a package media information storing section 1098, information aboutplural package media such as CDs and DVDs for sale (hereinafter, this isreferred to as package media information) has been stored in associationwith the search key of each package media ID information or the like.

As a result that page information for package media sale was transmittedto the client terminal 1002, if a media information request signal forrequesting package media information concerning specified packaged mediasuch as a CD or a DVD that was transmitted from the above clientterminal 1002 is received sequentially via the network interface 1093and the communication control section 1092, a retrieval section 1099extracts a search key for the above specified package media from theabove received media information request signal.

Then, the retrieval section 1099 retrieves package media informationabout specified package media corresponding to the search conditionshown by the above search key out of the plural package mediainformation in the package media information storing section 1098, basedon the above search key.

The control section 1090 transmits the retrieved package mediainformation to the client terminal 1002, sequentially via thecommunication control section 1092 and the network interface 1093. Thus,the package media information concerning the specified package media ispresented to the user.

As a result, if a purchase request signal for requesting to purchase theaforementioned specified package media that was transmitted from theclient terminal 1002, is received sequentially via the network interface1093 and the communication control section 1092, the control section1090 performs purchase processing such as the procedure for deliveringthe above specified package media to the user using the above clientterminal 1002.

Further, the control section 1090 transmits account information forcharging processing to the user for the purchase of the specifiedpackage media to the account server 1008, sequentially via thecommunication control section 1092 and the network interface 1093, inorder to make the account server 1008 perform the charging processing tothe above user corresponding to the purchase of the specified packagemedia.

Further, if the charging processing to the user by the account server1008 is completed, the control section 1090 transmits purchasecompletion page information showing the completion of the purchaseprocessing of the package media to the client terminal 1002,sequentially via the communication control section 1092 and the networkinterface 1093.

(3-6) Functional Circuit Block Configuration of Radio BroadcastingInformation Distribution Server 1006

Next, the hardware configuration of the radio broadcasting informationdistribution server 1006 by functional circuit blocks will be describedwith reference to FIG. 18. A control section 1110 in the radiobroadcasting information distribution server 1006 controls the operationof each circuit connected via a bus 1111.

A communication control section 1112 transmits/receives variousinformation to/from the client terminal 1002, the portal server 1003,and the like, via a network interface 1113, under the control of thecontrol section 1110.

In a customer database section 1114, user ID information and passwordinformation about the user who already completed a contract with theadministrator dealer of the radio broadcasting information distributionserver 1006 has been registered in association with each other, ascustomer information. However, in the case where an authenticationprocessing section 1115 has a function to perform authenticationprocessing of the user based on the portal authentication resultinformation issued by the portal server 1003 that was transmitted fromthe client terminal 1002, the customer database section 1114 may not beprovided.

In a page information storing section 1116, page information foron-air-list information distribution managed by the radio broadcastinginformation distribution server 1006 and to be used to obtain radiobroadcasting information concerning the radio programs that were alreadybroadcasted by a radio station corresponding to the above radiobroadcasting information distribution server 1006 (hereinafter, this isspecially referred to as on-air-list information), or the like, has beenstored.

In this connection, the page information for on-air-list informationdistribution is described by a language such as the XML, and in whichentering boxes for making the user using the client terminal 1002 enterbroadcasting time and date information, the program title, and the likeof a radio program as a search key for the on-air-list informationwanted to obtain are provided.

In the on-air-list information storing section 1117, on-air-listinformation created by listing the program title, the broadcasting ofprogram starting time, the broadcasting of program ending time, and thelike of the radio programs that were already broadcasted by the radiostation corresponding to the radio broadcasting information distributionserver 1006, and the title, the artist name, the broadcasting of programstarting time, and the like of the musical compositions that werebroadcasted in the above radio programs has been stored.

Then, if a page information acquisition request signal for requestingpage information for on-air-list information distribution that wastransmitted from the client terminal 1002 is received sequentially viathe network interface 1113 and the communication control section 1112,the control section 1110 transmits page information for on-air-listinformation distribution stored in the page information storing section1116 to the client terminal 1002 sequentially via the communicationcontrol section 1112 and the network interface 1113, according to theabove received page information acquisition request signal.

As a result, an on-air list information request signal in which a searchkey for on-air-list information search wanted to obtain entered on thepage information for on-air-list information distribution has beenstored and which requests to download the on-air-list information istransmitted from the client terminal 1002. Thereby, if the on-air-listinformation request signal is received sequentially via the networkinterface 1113 and the communication control section 1112, a retrievalsection 1118 extracts the search key from the above received on-air listinformation request signal.

Then, the retrieval section 1118 retrieves a predetermined area partcorresponding to the search condition shown by the above search key asthe on-air-list information wanted to obtain, from all of theon-air-list information in the on-air-list information storing section1117, based on the above search key.

The control section 1110 transmits the retrieved on-air-list informationwanted to obtain to the client terminal 1002, sequentially via thecommunication control section 1112 and the network interface 1113.

On the other hand, in a now-on-air information storing section 1119,now-on-air information composed of the program title, the broadcastingof program starting time, and the broadcasting of program ending time ofthe radio program that is being broadcasted now by the radio stationcorresponding to the radio broadcasting information distribution server1006, and the title, the artist name, the broadcasting of musicalcomposition starting time, and the like of the musical composition thatis being broadcasted at the present time in the above radio program hasbeen stored.

If user ID information and password information about the user using theclient terminal 1002 that was transmitted from the client terminal 1002together with a now-on-air information request signal for requesting toobtain now-on-air information is received sequentially via the networkinterface 1113 and the communication control section 1112, as userauthentication processing, the authentication processing section 1115confirms whether or not the above received user ID information andpassword information has been registered in the customer databasesection 1114 as customer information.

Further, as a user authentication method different from the userauthentication processing using the user ID information and passwordinformation, the authentication processing section 1115 receives portalauthentication result information issued in the portal server 1003 thatwas transmitted from the client terminal 1002 (an authentication ticketthat will be described later) sequentially via the network interface1113 and the communication control section 1112, and transmits the abovereceived portal authentication result information to the portal server1003 sequentially via the communication control section 1112 and thenetwork interface 1113.

Then, the authentication processing section 1115 receives confirmationresult information returned as a result that authentication processingof the portal authentication result information (that is, theaforementioned confirmation processing) was performed responding to thetransmission of the portal authentication result information to theportal server 1003, from the above portal server 1003 sequentially viathe network interface 1113 and the communication control section 1112,and confirms whether or not the user is a regular user who alreadycompleted a contract with the administrator dealer of the music relatedservice provision system 1000, based on the above received confirmationresult information.

In this manner, if the user authentication processing is finished, theauthentication processing section 1115 issues server authenticationresult information showing the result of that user authenticationprocessing (service session ID information that will be describedlater).

At this time, as the result of the user authentication processing by theauthentication processing section 1115, if the user is authenticated asa regular user, the control section 1110 transmits now-on-airinformation stored in the now-on-air information storing section 1119,together with the server authentication result information, to theclient terminal 1002 sequentially via the communication control section1112 and the network interface 1113.

On the contrary, as the result of the user authentication processing bythe authentication processing section 1115, if the user was notauthenticated as a regular user, the control section 1110 transmitsauthentication error information, together with authentication failurenotification page information showing the failure of the authenticationstored in the page information storing section 1116, to the clientterminal 1002 sequentially via the communication control section 1112and the network interface 1113.

In this manner, when the user requested to obtain now-on-airinformation, if the above user is authenticated as a regular user, thecontrol section 1110 distributes the now-on-air information. However, ifthe user cannot be authenticated as a regular user, the control section1110 forbids the user to receive a radio broadcasting informationdistribution service provided by the radio broadcasting informationdistribution server 1006, such as a now-on-air information distributionservice.

By the way, in an authentication information storing section 1120,server authentication result information issued by the authenticationprocessing section 1115 is temporarily stored, and also variousauthentication information that is necessary to perform userauthentication processing of the user using the client terminal 1002 bythe above authentication processing section 1115 has been stored.

(3-7) Summary of Processing in Each Server

Next, a summary of processing performed between the client terminal 1002and the portal server 1003, and processing performed between the clientterminal 1002 and the other servers of the music data distributionserver 1004, the trade server 1005 and the radio broadcastinginformation distribution server 1006 will be described, with referenceto sequence charts shown in FIGS. 19 to 24.

(3-7-1) User Authentication Processing Procedure between Client Terminal1002 and Portal Server 1003

First, a user authentication processing procedure performed between theclient terminal 1002 and the portal server 1003 will be described withreference to FIG. 19.

In the client terminal 1002 of the user contracting with theadministrator dealer of the music related service provision system 1000,if an operation input signal recognized in the operation input section1020 is converted into an operation command in the input processingsection 1021 and it is supplied, for instance, in response to that anoperation to turn on the switch was performed to the client terminal1002, or that a specified operation button in the operation inputsection 1020 was depressed by the user, the control section 1023 startsauthentication request processing.

If the authentication request processing is started in the clientterminal 1002, in step SP1000, the control section 1023 generates aconnection request signal storing authentication session ID informationor the like that has been previously stored in the authenticationinformation storing section 1038, and transmits the above generatedconnection request signal to the portal server 1003 sequentially via thecommunication control section 1032 and the network interface 1033.

In this connection, the authentication session ID information isidentification information that will be issued by the portal server 1003for identifying each communication connected state (that is, session)every time when communication between the client terminal 1002 and theportal server 1003 is connected to perform various processing such asuser authentication processing.

Note that, as to the above authentication session ID information, on theuse of it in user authentication processing or the like, a predeterminedvalid period based on the time when it was issued by the portal server1003 (for example, approximately one minute) has been set.

Therefore, in the case where the client terminal 1002 that obtained theauthentication session ID information from the portal server 1003 cannotpresent the authentication session ID information to the portal server1003 within the valid period, it is determined that the communicationconnected state specified by the above authentication session IDinformation was cut off, by the portal server 1003.

Thereby, the portal server 1003 can prevent that the authenticationsession ID information issued in the past is illegally used by the userwho does not contract with the administrator dealer of the music relatedservice provision system 1000 in the user authentication processing orthe like.

The authentication session ID information temporarily stored in theauthentication information storing section 1038 is ID information thatwas issued by the portal server 1003 when the communication between theclient terminal 1002 and that portal server 1003 was connected in thepast to perform user authentication processing or the like.

If a connection request signal is transmitted from the client terminal1002, in response to this, in step SP1001, the control section 1050 inthe portal server 1003 receives the connection request signalsequentially via the network interface 1053 and the communicationcontrol section 1052, and transmits authentication session IDinformation or the like stored in the above received connection requestsignal to the authentication processing section 1056.

The authentication processing section 1056 performs user authenticationprocessing based on the authentication session ID information or thelike received from the client terminal 1002 as the connection requestsignal, under the control of the control section 1050.

As a result, if the user using the above client terminal 1002 cannot beauthenticated as a regular user by the authentication processing section1056 because the valid period of the authentication session IDinformation or the like received from the client terminal 1002 hasexpired or the like, the control section 1050 transmits authenticationerror information showing an authentication error to the client terminal1002 sequentially via the communication control section 1052 and thenetwork interface 1053.

In step SP1002, if the authentication error information transmitted fromthe portal server 1003 is received sequentially via the networkinterface 1033 and the communication control section 1032, in responseto this, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002 reads userID information, password information, and the like stored in theauthentication information storing section 1038, and transmits the aboveread user ID information, password information, and the like to theportal server 1003 sequentially via the communication control section1032 and the network interface 1033.

In step SP1003, the control section 1050 of the portal server 1003receives the user ID information, password information, and the liketransmitted from the client terminal 1002 sequentially via the networkinterface 1053 and the communication control section 1052, and transmitsthe above received user ID information, password information, and thelike to the authentication processing section 1056.

As user authentication processing, the authentication processing section1056 detects whether or not the user ID information, passwordinformation, and the like received from that client terminal 1002 isincluded in customer information registered in the customer databasesection 1054, under the control of the control section 1050.

As a result, if the user using the client terminal 1002 is authenticatedas a regular user, the authentication processing section 1056 issuesauthentication session ID information or the like for the currentcommunication connected state between the client terminal 1002 and theportal server 1003, as portal authentication result information, underthe control of the control section 1050, and temporarily stores theauthentication session ID information or the like issued to the aboveclient terminal 1002 in the authentication information storing section1057.

Then, the control section 1050 transmits the authentication session IDinformation or the like issued to that client terminal 1002 by theauthentication processing section 1056, to the client terminal 1002sequentially via the communication control section 1052 and the networkinterface 1053.

In step SP1004, the control section 1023 in the client terminal 1002receives the authentication session ID information or the liketransmitted from the portal server 1003 sequentially via the networkinterface 1033 and the communication control section 1032, and transmitsthe above received authentication session ID information or the like tothe authentication processing section 1037.

The authentication processing section 1037 temporarily stores thatauthentication session ID information or the like received from theportal server 1003 to the authentication information storing section1038, under the control of the control section 1023.

Thereby, the control section 1023 transmits a page informationacquisition request signal for requesting the portal server 1003 tosupply page information, together with that authentication session IDinformation or the like received from the portal server 1003 andtemporarily stored in the authentication information storing section1038, to the portal server 1003 sequentially via the communicationcontrol section 1032 and the network interface 1033.

In step SP1005, the control section 1050 of the portal server 1003receives the page information acquisition request signal and theauthentication session ID information or the like that was transmittedfrom the client terminal 1002, sequentially via the network interface1053 and the communication control section 1052, and transmits the abovereceived authentication session ID information or the like to theauthentication processing section 1056.

Thereby, the authentication processing section 1056 performs userauthentication processing by comparing the authentication session IDinformation or the like received from the client terminal 1002 with theauthentication session ID information or the like that was issued to theclient terminal 1002 in the aforementioned step SP1003 and has beentemporarily stored in the authentication information storing section1057, under the control of the control section 1050.

As a result, if the user using the client terminal 1002 is authenticatedas a regular user, in step SP1006, the authentication processing section1056 determines the page information acquisition request from the aboveclient terminal 1002 as a legal request, and extends the valid period ofthe authentication session ID information or the like issued to thatclient terminal 1002.

Thereby, the control section 1050 reads page information requested toobtain by the user from the page information storing section 1055, andtransmits the above read page information, together with theauthentication session ID information or the like of which the validperiod was extended by the authentication processing section 1056, tothe client terminal 1002 sequentially via the communication controlsection 1052 and the network interface 1053.

In step SP1007, the control section 1023 in the client terminal 1002receives the page information transmitted from the portal server 1003and the authentication session ID information or the like of which thevalid period was extended, sequentially via the network interface 1033and the communication control section 1032, transmits the above receivedpage information to the page information generating section 1036, andtransmits that authentication session ID information or the like ofwhich the valid period was extended to the authentication processingsection 1037.

The page information generating section 1036 generates video data on apage in which links to the music data distribution server 1004, thetrade server 1005 and the radio broadcasting information distributionserver 1006 are embedded, based on the page information supplied fromthe control section 1023, and transmits the above generated video datato the display control section 1024.

The display control section 1024 performs digital-to-analog conversionon the video data supplied from the page information generating section1036, and transmits thus obtained analog video signal to the displaysection 1025, so that the page of the portal server 1003 is displayed inthe above display section 1025 as images based on that analog videosignal.

Further, the authentication processing section 1037 temporarily storesthe authentication session ID information or the like that was receivedfrom the portal server 1003 and of which the valid period was extended,in the authentication information storing section 1038, under thecontrol of the control section 1023, so as to update it on theauthentication information or the like before extending the validperiod. Thereby, the authentication session ID information or the liketemporarily stored in the aforementioned step SP1004 is updated to theauthentication session ID information of which the valid period wasextended or the like.

(3-7-2) User Authentication Processing Procedure between Client Terminal1002 and Each Server 1004 to 1006

Next, referring to FIG. 20, user authentication processing performedbetween the client terminal 1002 and the music data distribution server1004, the trade server 1005 and the radio broadcasting informationdistribution server 1006 will be described.

In this case, as the above user authentication processing, there is userauthentication processing performed by that the client terminal 1002once obtains page information from the portal server 1003 as describedabove with reference to FIG. 19, and then accesses the music datadistribution server 1004, the trade server 1005 and the radiobroadcasting information distribution server 1006 by links embedded inthat page information (hereinafter, this is referred to as indirectaccess authentication processing).

Further, as the above user authentication processing, also there is userauthentication processing performed by that the client terminal 1002directly accesses the music data distribution server 1004, the tradeserver 1005 and the radio broadcasting information distribution server1006 by URL information or the like previously registered as a bookmark,without obtaining the page information about the portal server 1003(hereinafter, this is referred to as direct access authenticationprocessing).

However, as to the indirect access authentication processing, theprocessing can be performed in the same procedure, even in anycombinations of the client terminal 1002 and the music data distributionserver 1004, the trade server 1005 and the radio broadcastinginformation distribution server 1006.

Furthermore, also as to the direct access authentication processing, theprocessing can be performed in the same procedure, even in anycombinations of the client terminal 1002 and the music data distributionserver 1004, the trade server 1005 and the radio broadcastinginformation distribution server 1006.

In the direct access authentication processing and the indirect accessauthentication processing, only the manners of obtaining the URLinformation to be used in access to the music data distribution server1004, the trade server 1005 and the radio broadcasting informationdistribution server 1006 in the client terminal 1002 are different.After the above URL information was obtained, both of the indirectaccess authentication processing and the direct access authenticationprocessing can be performed in the same procedure.

Thus, hereinafter, the music data distribution server 1004 will be usedas a typical of the access destination of the client terminal 1002, tosimplify the description. Further, the indirect access authenticationprocessing and the direct access authentication processing will bedescribed as one user authentication processing by putting intotogether.

First, in step SP1010, the control section 1023 of the client terminal1002 transmits service session ID information or the like read from theauthentication information storing section 1038, together with a pageinformation acquisition request signal that requests to obtain pageinformation for music data distribution (in the trade server 1005 andthe radio broadcasting information distribution server 1006 other thanthat, it changes to page information for package media sale, pageinformation for on-air-list information distribution, or the like), tothe music data distribution server 1004 sequentially via thecommunication control section 1032 and the network interface 1033,according to URL information embedded in the page information as a link,URL information already registered as a bookmark, or the like.

In this connection, the service session ID information is identificationinformation that is issued for identifying each communication connectedstate (that is, session) every time when the communication of the clientterminal 1002 with the music data distribution server 1004, the tradeserver 1005 and the radio broadcasting information distribution server1006 is connected to perform various processing such as userauthentication processing, by the server accessed by the client terminal1002 the music data distribution server 1004, the trade server 1005 andthe radio broadcasting information distribution server 1006.

Note that, as to the above service session ID information, similarly tothe aforementioned authentication session ID information, on use in userauthentication processing or the like, a predetermined valid periodbased on the time issued by the music data distribution server 1004, thetrade server 1005 and the radio broadcasting information distributionserver 1006 (for example, approximately one minute) has been set.

Therefore, if the client terminal 1002 that obtained the service sessionID information from each server 1004 to 1006 cannot present the serverbeing the issuers of the music data distribution server 1004, the tradeserver 1005 and the radio broadcasting information distribution server1006, that service session ID information within the valid period, theclient terminal 1002 is determined that the communication connectedstate specified by the above service session ID information was cut off,by these music data distribution server 1004, the trade server 1005 andradio broadcasting information distribution server 1006 being theissuers.

Thereby, the music data distribution server 1004, the trade server 1005and the radio broadcasting information distribution server 1006 canprevent that the service session ID information issued in the past isillegally used by the user who does not contract with the administratordealer of the music related service provision system 1000 in the userauthentication processing or the like.

The service session ID information temporarily stored in theauthentication information storing section 1038 is ID information thatwas issued by the destinations of access of the music data distributionserver 1004, the trade server 1005 and the radio broadcastinginformation distribution server 1006, when the communication between theclient terminal 1002 and the music data distribution server 1004, thetrade server 1005 and the radio broadcasting information distributionserver 1006 was connected in the past to perform user authenticationprocessing or the like.

In step SP1011, the control section 1070 of the music data distributionserver 1004 receives a page information acquisition request signal andservice session ID information or the like transmitted from the clientterminal 1002, sequentially via the network interface 1073 and thecommunication control section 1072, and transmits the above receivedservice session ID information or the like to the authenticationprocessing section 1075.

The authentication processing section 1075 performs user authenticationprocessing by comparing the service session ID information or the likereceived from the client terminal 1002 with the service session IDinformation or the like already temporarily stored in the authenticationinformation storing section 1077, under the control of the controlsection 1070.

As a result, if the user using the above client terminal 1002 cannot beauthenticated as a regular user because for instance, the valid periodof the service session ID information received from the client terminal1002 has already expired, the authentication processing section 1075determines the acquisition request for the page information for musicdata distribution from the client terminal 1002 as an illegal request.

If the user using the client terminal 1002 is not authenticated as aregular user by the authentication processing section 1075, the controlsection 1070 transmits authentication error information showing anauthentication error and a shop code to identify the music datadistribution server 1004 to the client terminal 1002 sequentially viathe communication control section 1072 and the network interface 1073.

In step SP1012, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002receives the authentication error information and a shop codetransmitted from the music data distribution server 1004, sequentiallyvia the network interface 1033 and the communication control section1032, and recognizes that the user was not authenticated as a regularuser in the music data distribution server 1004 by the above receivedauthentication error information, and also temporarily stores that shopcode received from the music data distribution server 1004 in theauthentication information storing section 1038.

Then, the control section 1023 generates an authentication ticketissuance request signal that requests to issue an authentication ticketto access the music data distribution server 1004 to the portal server1003, and transmits the above generated authentication ticket issuancerequest signal, together with the shop code of the music datadistribution server 1004 and the authentication session ID informationor the like already received from the portal server 1003 and temporarilystored in the authentication information storing section 1038, to theportal server 1003 sequentially via the communication control section1032 and the network interface 1033.

In step SP1013, the control section 1050 of the portal server 1003receives the authentication ticket issuance request signal, the shopcode and the authentication session ID information or the liketransmitted from the client terminal 1002, sequentially via the networkinterface 1053 and the communication control section 1052, and transmitsthem to the authentication processing section 1056.

Thereby, the authentication processing section 1056 performs userauthentication processing by comparing that authentication session IDinformation or the like received from that client terminal 1002 with theauthentication session ID information or the like already temporarilystored in the authentication information storing section 1057, under thecontrol of the control section 1050.

As a result, if the user using the above client terminal 1002 cannot beauthenticated as a regular user because for instance, the valid periodof the authentication session ID information received from the clientterminal 1002 has already expired, the authentication processing section1056 determines the authentication ticket issuance request from theclient terminal 1002 as an illegal request.

If the user using the client terminal 1002 is not authenticated as aregular user by the authentication processing section 1056, the controlsection 1050 transmits authentication error information showing anauthentication error to the client terminal 1002, sequentially via thecommunication control section 1052 and the network interface 1053.

On the contrary, if the user using the client terminal 1002 isauthenticated as a regular user because for instance, the valid periodof the authentication session ID information received from the clientterminal 1002 has not been expired, the authentication processingsection 1056 determines the authentication ticket issuance request fromthe above client terminal 1002 as a legal request.

If the user using the client terminal 1002 is authenticated as a regularuser by the authentication processing section 1056, the control section1050 proceeds to step SP1018 that will be described later.

In step SP1014, if the authentication error information transmitted fromthe portal server 1003 is received sequentially via the networkinterface 1033 and the communication control section 1032, the controlsection 1023 of the client terminal 1002 reads the user ID informationand the password information or the like stored in the authenticationinformation storing section 1038, and transmits the above read user IDinformation and password information or the like to the portal server1003, sequentially via the communication control section 1032 and thenetwork interface 1033.

In step SP1015, the control section 1050 of the portal server 1003receives the user ID information and the password information or thelike transmitted from the client terminal 1002, sequentially via thenetwork interface 1053 and the communication control section 1052, andtransmits the above received user ID information and passwordinformation or the like to the authentication processing section 1056.

Thereby, the authentication processing section 1056 performs userauthentication processing by detecting whether or not the user IDinformation and the password information or the like received from theclient terminal 1002 is included in customer information registered inthe customer database section 1054, under the control of the controlsection 1050.

As a result, if the user using the client terminal 1002 is authenticatedas a regular user, the authentication processing section 1056 issuesauthentication session ID information to the current communicationconnected state between the client terminal 1002 and the portal server1003 or the like as portal authentication result information, under thecontrol of the control section 1050, and temporarily stores theauthentication session ID information or the like issued to the aboveclient terminal 1002 in the authentication information storing section1057.

Then, the control section 1050 transmits that authentication session IDinformation or the like issued to the client terminal 1002 by theauthentication processing section 1056, to the client terminal 1002sequentially via the communication control section 1052 and the networkinterface 1053.

In step SP1016, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002receives the authentication session ID information or the liketransmitted from the portal server 1003, sequentially via the networkinterface 1033 and the communication control section 1032, andtemporarily stores the above received authentication session IDinformation or the like in the authentication information storingsection 1038 by the authentication processing section 1037.

Then, the control section 1023 generates again an authentication ticketissuance request signal that requests to issue an authentication ticketto the portal server 1003, and transmits the above generatedauthentication ticket issuance request signal, together with the shopcode already temporarily stored in the authentication informationstoring section 1038 and the authentication session ID information orthe like temporarily stored at this time, to the portal server 1003sequentially via the communication control section 1032 and the networkinterface 1033.

Here, in this embodiment, the shop code has been temporarily stored inthe authentication information storing section 1038 in the clientterminal 1002. However, the present invention is not only limited tothis but when the processing in step SP1012 to step SP1016 is performedbetween the above client terminal 1002 and the portal server 1003, theshop code may be sequentially transmitted/received. Thereby, it ispossible to transmit the shop code to the portal server 1003 in stepSP1016 without temporarily storing the shop code in the authenticationinformation storing section 1038 in the client terminal 1002.

In step SP1017, the control section 1050 of the portal server 1003receives the authentication ticket issuance request signal, shop codeand authentication session ID information or the like transmitted fromthe client terminal 1002 sequentially via the network interface 1053 andthe communication control section 1052, and transmits them to theauthentication processing section 1056.

Thereby, the authentication processing section 1056 performs userauthentication processing by comparing that authentication session IDinformation or the like received from the client terminal 1002 with theauthentication session ID information or the like already temporarilystored in the authentication information storing section 1057, under thecontrol of the control section 1050.

As a result, if the user using the client terminal 1002 is authenticatedas a regular user because for instance, the valid period of theauthentication session ID information or the like received from theclient terminal 1002 has not been expired, the authentication processingsection 1056 determines the authentication ticket issuance request fromthe above client terminal 1002 as a legal request.

If the user using the client terminal 1002 is authenticated as a regularuser by the authentication processing section 1056, the control section1050 proceeds to the next step SP1018.

In step SP1018, the authentication processing section 1056 issues anauthentication ticket that enables the client terminal 1002 to accessthe music data distribution server 1004 shown by the shop code, or thelike, as portal authentication result information, based on the shopcode and the authentication ticket issuance request signal received fromthe client terminal 1002 in the aforementioned step SP1017, under thecontrol of the control section 1050.

Then, the authentication processing section 1056 temporarily stores thatissued authentication ticket or the like in the authenticationinformation storing section 1057, and extends the valid period of theauthentication session ID information or the like issued to the clientterminal 1002, under the control of the control section 1050.

The control section 1050 transmits the authentication ticket or thelike, together with the authentication session ID information or thelike of which the valid period was extended by the authenticationprocessing section 1056, to the client terminal 1002 sequentially viathe communication control section 1052 and the network interface 1053.

In step SP1019, the control section 1023 of the client terminal 1002receives the authentication ticket or the like transmitted from theportal server 1003 and the authentication session ID information ofwhich the valid period was extended or the like, sequentially via thenetwork interface 1033 and the communication control section 1032, andtransmits the above received authentication session ID information tothe authentication processing section 1037.

The control section 1023 transmits that authentication ticket or thelike received from the portal server 1003, together with anauthentication request signal, to the music data distribution server1004 sequentially via the communication control section 1032 and thenetwork interface 1033.

Further, at this time, the authentication processing section 1037temporarily stores the authentication session ID information or the likethat was received from the portal server 1003 and of which the validperiod has been extended, in the authentication information storingsection 1038, under the control of the control section 1023, byoverwriting on the authentication session ID information or the likebefore that the valid period was extended. Thereby, the authenticationsession ID information or the like temporarily stored in theaforementioned step SP1016 is updated to the authentication session IDinformation of which the valid period was extended or the like.

In step SP1020, the control section 1070 in the music data distributionserver 1004 receives an authentication request signal and anauthentication ticket or the like transmitted from the client terminal1002, sequentially via the network interface 1073 and the communicationcontrol section 1072.

Then, the control section 1070 transmits that authentication ticket orthe like received from the client terminal 1002, together with anauthentication ticket confirmation request signal that requests toconfirm the above authentication ticket or the like, to the portalserver 1003 sequentially via the communication control section 1072 andthe network interface 1073.

In step SP1021, the control section 1050 of the portal server 1003receives the authentication ticket confirmation request signal and theauthentication ticket or the like transmitted from the music datadistribution server 1004, sequentially via the network interface 1053and the communication control section 1052, and transmits the abovereceived authentication ticket confirmation request signal andauthentication ticket or the like to the authentication processingsection 1056.

The authentication processing section 1056 performs confirmationprocessing of the authentication ticket received from the music datadistribution server 1004, by comparing that authentication session IDinformation or the like received from the music data distribution server1004 with the authentication ticket or the like already temporarilystored in the authentication information storing section 1057, accordingto the authentication ticket confirmation request signal, under thecontrol of the control section 1050.

As a result, if the authentication ticket or the like received from themusic data distribution server 1004 is confirmed as a legalauthentication ticket or the like by the authentication processingsection 1056, the control section 1050 transmits confirmation resultinformation showing that the above authentication ticket or the like wasconfirmed as a legal authentication ticket or the like to the music datadistribution server 1004, sequentially via the communication controlsection 1052 and the network interface 1053.

In step SP1022, the control section 1070 in the music data distributionserver 1004 receives the confirmation result information transmittedfrom the portal server 1003 sequentially via the network interface 1073and the communication control section 1072, and transmits the abovereceived confirmation result information to the authenticationprocessing section 1075.

According to that confirmation result information, the authenticationprocessing section 1075 issues service session ID information or thelike to the current communication connected state between the clientterminal 1002 and the music data distribution server 1004, as serverauthentication result information, under the control of the controlsection 1070, and temporarily stores the above issued service session IDinformation or the like in the authentication information storingsection 1077.

On the other hand, the control section 1070 transmits that servicesession ID information or the like issued to the client terminal 1002 bythe authentication processing section 1075, to the client terminal 1002sequentially via the communication control section 1072 and the networkinterface 1073.

In step SP1023, the control section 1023 in the client terminal 1002receives the service session ID information or the like transmitted fromthe music data distribution server 1004, sequentially via the networkinterface 1033 and the communication control section 1032. The abovereceived service session ID information or the like is temporarilystored in the authentication information storing section 1038 by theauthentication processing section 1037.

The control section 1023 receives a page information acquisition requestsignal that requests page information for music data distribution, andtransmits, together with the service session ID information or the likereceived from the music data distribution server 1004 and temporarilystored in the authentication information storing section 1038, to themusic data distribution server 1004 sequentially via the communicationcontrol section 1032 and the network interface 1033.

In step SP1024, the control section 1070 in the music data distributionserver 1004 receives the page information acquisition request signal andthe service session ID information or the like transmitted from theclient terminal 1002, sequentially via the network interface 1073 andthe communication control section 1072, and transmits the above receivedservice session ID information or the like to the authenticationprocessing section 1075.

Thereby, the authentication processing section 1075 performs userauthentication processing by comparing the service session IDinformation or the like received from the client terminal 1002 with theservice session ID information or the like that was already issued tothe client terminal 1002 in the aforementioned step SP1022 and has beentemporarily stored in the authentication information storing section1077, under the control of the control section 1070.

As a result, if the user using the client terminal 1002 is authenticatedas a regular user because for instance, the valid period of the servicesession ID information or the like received from the client terminal1002 has not been expired, the authentication processing section 1075determines the acquisition request for the page information for musicdata distribution from the above client terminal 1002 as a legalrequest.

If the user using the client terminal 1002 is authenticated as a regularuser by the authentication processing section 1075, the control section1070 proceeds to the next step SP1025.

In step SP1025, the control section 1070 reads the page information formusic data distribution that was requested to obtain by the user fromthe page information storing section 1076, and also extends the validperiod of the service session ID information or the like issued to theclient terminal 1002 by the authentication processing section 1075.

Then, the control section 1070 transmits that page information for musicdata distribution read from the page information storing section 1076,together with the service session ID information of which the validperiod was extended by the authentication processing section 1075 or thelike, to the client terminal 1002 sequentially via the communicationcontrol section 1072 and the network interface 1073.

In step SP1026, the control section 1023 in the client terminal 1002receives the page information for music data distribution and theservice session ID information of which the valid period was extended orthe like transmitted from the music data distribution server 1004,sequentially via the network interface 1033 and the communicationcontrol section 1032, transmits the above received page information formusic data distribution to the page information generating section 1036,and also transmits that service session ID information or the likereceived from the music data distribution server 1004 to theauthentication processing section 1037.

The authentication processing section 1037 temporarily stores theservice session ID information or the like that was received from themusic data distribution server 1004 and of which the valid period hasbeen extended, in the authentication information storing section 1038,under the control of the control section 1023, by overwriting on theservice session ID information or the like before that the valid periodwas extended. Thereby, the service session ID information or the liketemporarily stored in the aforementioned step SP1023 is updated to theservice session ID information of which the valid period was extended orthe like.

On the other hand, the page information generating section 1036generates video data based on the page information for music datadistribution, and transmits the above generated video data to thedisplay control section 1024.

The display control section 1024 performs digital-to-analog conversionon the video data supplied from the page information generating section1036, and transmits thus obtained analog video signal to the displaysection 1025. Thus, a page for music data distribution is displayed inthe above display section 1025 as an image based on that analog videosignal.

(3-7-3) Music Related Service Providing Processing

Next, referring to FIGS. 21 to 24, music related service providingprocessing when the client terminal 1002 receives the provision of amusic data distribution service, a trade service and a radiobroadcasting information distribution service by using page informationfor music data distribution, page information for package media sale,and page information for on-air-list information distribution, or thelike, obtained from the music data distribution server 1004, the tradeserver 1005 and the radio broadcasting information distribution server1006 in the above user authentication processing procedure, aftercompletion of the user authentication processing procedure describedabove with reference to FIG. 20 performed between the client terminal1002 and the music data distribution server 1004, the trade server 1005and the radio broadcasting information distribution server 1006, will bedescribed.

(3-7-3-1) Music Data Distribution Service Providing Processing Procedure

First, referring to FIG. 21, a music data distribution service providingprocessing procedure when the client terminal 1002 receives theprovision of a music data distribution service from the music datadistribution server 1004 will be described.

If a control command to select a part of a page for music datadistribution displayed in the display section 1025 as an image isinputted from the input processing section 1021, in step SP1030, thecontrol section 1023 in the client terminal 1002 generates a downloadrequest signal that requests to download music data wanted to download,according to the above inputted control command.

Then, the control section 1023 transmits that download request signal,together with service session ID information or the like that wasalready issued in the music data distribution server 1004 and has beentemporarily stored in the authentication information storing section1038, to the music data distribution server 1004 sequentially via thecommunication control section 1032 and the network interface 1033.

In step SP1031, the control section 1070 in the music data distributionserver 1004 receives the download request signal transmitted from theclient terminal 1002 and the service session ID information or the like,sequentially via the network interface 1073 and the communicationcontrol section 1072, and transmits the above received service sessionID information or the like to the authentication processing section1075.

The authentication processing section 1075 performs user authenticationprocessing by comparing the service session ID information or the likereceived from the client terminal 1002 with the service session IDinformation or the like already temporarily stored in the authenticationinformation storing section 1077, under the control of the controlsection 1070.

As a result, if the user who requested to download the music data byusing the client terminal 1002 is authenticated as a regular user by theauthentication processing section 1075, the control section 1070proceeds to the next step SP1032.

In step SP1032, the retrieval section 1079 retrieves music data wantedto download that corresponds to a search condition shown by a searchkey, from among plural music data in the music data storing section1078, based on the search key stored in the download request signal.

If the music data is retrieved by the retrieval section 1079, thecontrol section 1070 extends the valid period of the service session IDinformation issued to the client terminal 1002 or the like by theauthentication processing section 1075, and proceeds to the next stepSP1033.

In step SP1033, the control section 1070 reads the music data wanted todownload that was retrieved by the retrieval section 1079 from the musicdata storing section 1078, and transmits the above read music datawanted to download, together with the service session ID information ofwhich the valid period was extended by the authentication processingsection 1075 or the like, to the client terminal 1002 sequentially viathe communication control section 1072 and the network interface 1073.

In step SP1034, the control section 1023 in the client terminal 1002receives the music data wanted to download transmitted from the musicdata distribution server 1004 and the service session ID information ofwhich the valid period was extended or the like, sequentially via thenetwork interface 1033 and the communication control section 1032, andstores the above received music data in the storage medium 1029 and alsotransmits that service session ID information or the like received fromthe music data distribution server 1004 to the authentication processingsection 1037.

The authentication processing section 1037 temporarily stores theservice session ID information or the like that was received from themusic data distribution server 1004 and of which the valid period hasbeen extended, in the authentication information storing section 1038,under the control of the control section 1023, by overwriting on theservice session ID information or the like before that the valid periodwas extended. Thereby, the contents of the service session IDinformation or the like already temporarily stored in the aboveauthentication information storing section 1038 are updated.

In this manner, the client terminal 1002 can download music data thatwas wanted to obtain by the user by using the music data distributionservice provided by the music data distribution server 1004.

(3-7-3-2) Trade Service Providing Processing Procedure

Next, referring to FIG. 22, a trade service providing processingprocedure when the client terminal 1002 receives the provision of atrade service from the trade server 1005 will be described.

If a control command to select a part of a page for package media saledisplayed in the display section 1025 as an image is inputted from theinput processing section 1021, in step SP1040, the control section 1023in the client terminal 1002 generates a media information request signalthat requests package media information concerning specified packagemedia according to the above inputted control command.

Then, the control section 1023 transmits that media information requestsignal, together with service session ID information or the like thatwas already issued in the trade server 1005 and has been temporarilystored in the authentication information storing section 1038, to thetrade server 1005 sequentially via the communication control section1032 and the network interface 1033′.

In step SP1041, the control section 1090 in the trade server 1005receives the media information request signal and the service session IDinformation or the like, transmitted from the client terminal 1002,sequentially via a network interface 1093 and a communication controlsection 1092, and transmits the above received service session IDinformation or the like to an authentication processing section 1095.

The authentication processing section 1095 performs user authenticationprocessing by comparing the service session ID information or the likereceived from the client terminal 1002 with the service session IDinformation or the like already temporarily stored in an authenticationinformation storing section 1097, under the control of the controlsection 1090.

As a result, if the user who requested package media informationconcerning package media by using the client terminal 1002 isauthenticated as a regular user by the authentication processing section1095, the control section 1090 proceeds to the next step SP1042.

In step SP1042, a retrieval section 1099 retrieves package mediainformation on specified package media that corresponds to a searchcondition shown by a search key, from among plural package mediainformation in the package media storing section 1098, based on thesearch key stored in the media information request signal.

If the package media information is retrieved by the retrieval section1099, the control section 1090 extends the valid period of the servicesession ID information or the like issued to the client terminal 1002 bythe authentication processing section 1095, and proceeds to the nextstep SP1043.

In step SP1043, the control section 1090 reads the package mediainformation retrieved by the retrieval section 1099 from the packagemedia storing section 1098, and transmits the above read package mediainformation, together with the service session ID information of whichthe valid period was extended by the authentication processing section1095 or the like, to the client terminal 1002 sequentially via thecommunication control section 1092 and the network interface 1093.

In step SP1044, the control section 1023 in the client terminal 1002receives the package media information transmitted from the trade server1005 and the service session ID information of which the valid periodwas extended or the like, sequentially via the network interface 1033and the communication control section 1032, and transmits the abovereceived package media information to the page information generatingsection 1036 and also transmits that service session ID information orthe like received from the trade server 1005 to the authenticationprocessing section 1037.

The authentication processing section 1037 temporarily stores theservice session ID information that was received from the trade server1005 and of which the valid period has been extended or the like, in theauthentication information storing section 1038, under the control ofthe control section 1023, by overwriting on the service session IDinformation or the like before that the valid period was extended.Thereby, the contents of the service session ID information or the likealready temporarily stored in the above authentication informationstoring section 1038 are updated.

Further, the page information generating section 1036 generates videodata based on the package media information supplied from the controlsection 1023, converts the above generated video data into an analogvideo signal by the display control section 1024 and transmits thesignal to the display section 1025.

If displaying the package media information in the display section 1025as an image based on that analog video signal, the control section 1023proceeds to the next step SP1045.

In step SP1045, if a control command to order the purchase of packagemedia corresponding to the package media information displayed in thedisplay section 1025 as the image is inputted from the input processingsection 1021, the control section 1023 generates a purchase order signalthat orders the purchase of that package media according to the aboveinputted control command.

Then, the control section 1023 transmits that purchase order signal,together with the service session ID information already received fromthe trade server 1005 and temporarily stored in the authenticationinformation storing section 1038 (that is, the service session IDinformation of which the valid period was extended or the like), to thetrade server 1005 sequentially via the communication control section1032 and the network interface 1033.

In step SP1046, the control section 1090 in the trade server 1005receives the purchase order signal transmitted from the client terminal1002 and the service session ID information or the like, sequentiallyvia the network interface 1093 and the communication control section1092, and transmits the above received service session ID information orthe like to the authentication processing section 1095.

The authentication processing section 1095 performs user authenticationprocessing by comparing the service session ID information or the likereceived from the client terminal 1002 with the service session IDinformation or the like already temporarily stored in the authenticationinformation storing section 1097, under the control of the controlsection 1090.

As a result, if the user who ordered the purchase of package media byusing the client terminal 1002 is authenticated as a regular user by theauthentication processing section 1095, the control section 1090proceeds to the next step SP1047.

In step SP1047, the control section 1090 performs purchase processingsuch as the procedure for delivering the package media of which thepurchase was ordered to the user using the client terminal 1002, andtransmits account information for charging processing to the useraccompanied with the purchase of the above package media to the accountserver 1008 sequentially via the communication control section 1092 andthe network interface 1093. Thereby, charging processing correspondingto the purchase of the package media to the above user is performed inthat account server 1008.

Further, the control section 1090 makes the authentication processingsection 1095 extend the valid period of the service session IDinformation or the like that was issued to the client terminal 1002.

In step SP1048, after completion of the charging processing, the controlsection 1090 transmits purchase completion page information showing thatthe purchase processing of the package media has completed, togetherwith the service session ID information of which the valid period wasextended by the authentication processing section 1095 or the like, tothe client terminal 1002 sequentially via the communication controlsection 1092 and the network interface 1093.

In step SP1049, the control section 1023 in the client terminal 1002receives the purchase completion page information transmitted from thetrade server 1005 and the service session ID information of which thevalid period was extended or the like, sequentially via the networkinterface 1033 and the communication control section 1032, and transmitsthe above received purchase completion page information to the pageinformation generating section 1036, and also transmits that servicesession ID information or the like received from the trade server 1005to the authentication processing section 1037.

The authentication processing section 1037 temporarily stores theservice session ID information that was received from the trade server1005 and of which the valid period has been extended or the like, in theauthentication information storing section 1038, under the control ofthe control section 1023, by overwriting on the service session IDinformation or the like before that the valid period was extended.Thereby, the contents of the service session ID information or the likealready temporarily stored in the above authentication informationstoring section 1038 are updated.

Further, the page information generating section 1036 generates videodata based on the purchase completion page information supplied from thecontrol section 1023, converts the above generated video data into ananalog video signal by the display control section 1024 and transmitsthe signal to the display section 1025.

Thereby, a purchase completion page is displayed in the display section1025 as an image based on that analog video signal by the controlsection 1023.

In this manner, the client terminal 1002 can make the user purchasedesired package media by using the trade service provided by the tradeserver 1005.

(3-7-3-3) On-air-list Information Distribution Service ProvidingProcessing Procedure

Next, with reference to FIG. 23, a radio broadcasting informationdistribution service providing processing procedure when the clientterminal 1002 receives the provision of especially an on-air-listinformation distribution service from the radio broadcasting informationdistribution server 1006 as a radio broadcasting informationdistribution service will be described.

If a search key for on-air-list information retrieval wanted to obtainis inputted to an input box on a page for on-air-list informationdistribution displayed in the display section 1025 as an image, and acontrol command corresponding to a character string showing the aboveinputted search key is inputted from the input processing section 1021,in step SP1060, the control section 1023 in the client terminal 1002generates an on-air-list information request signal that requests todownload the on-air-list information wanted to obtain, according to theabove inputted control command.

Then, the control section 1023 transmits that on-air-list informationrequest signal, together with the service session ID information or thelike already issued in the radio broadcasting information distributionserver 1006 and temporarily stored in the authentication informationstoring section 1038, to the radio broadcasting information distributionserver 1006 sequentially via the communication control section 1032 andthe network interface 1033.

In step SP1061, the control section 1110 in the radio broadcastinginformation distribution server 1006 receives the on-air-listinformation request signal and the service session ID information or thelike transmitted from the client terminal 1002, sequentially via thenetwork interface 1113 and the communication control section 1112, andtransmits the above received service session ID information or the liketo the authentication processing section 1115.

The authentication processing section 1115 performs user authenticationprocessing by comparing the service session ID information or the likereceived from the client terminal 1002 with the service session IDinformation or the like already temporarily stored in the authenticationinformation storing section 1120, under the control of the controlsection 1110.

As a result, if the user who requested the on-air-list information byusing the client terminal 1002 is authenticated as a regular user by theauthentication processing section 1115, the control section 1110proceeds to the next step SP1062.

In step SP1062, the retrieval section 1118 retrieves a predeterminedrange part corresponding to a search condition shown by the search keyfrom all of the on-air-list information in the on-air-list informationstoring section 1117, as the on-air-list information wanted to obtain,based on the search key stored in the on-air-list information requestsignal.

If the on-air-list information is retrieved by the retrieval section1118, the control section 1110 makes the authentication processingsection 1115 extend the valid period of the service session IDinformation or the like issued to the client terminal 1002, and proceedsto the next step SP1063.

In step SP1063, the control section 1110 reads the on-air-listinformation retrieved by the retrieval section 1118 from the on-air-listinformation storing section 1117, and transmits the above readon-air-list information, together with the service session IDinformation of which the valid period was extended by the authenticationprocessing section 1115 or the like, to the client terminal 1002sequentially via the communication control section 1112 and the networkinterface 1113.

In step SP1064, the control section 1023 in the client terminal 1002receives the on-air-list information and the service session IDinformation of which the valid period was extended or the like that wastransmitted from the radio broadcasting information distribution server1006, sequentially via the network interface 1033 and the communicationcontrol section 1032, and transmits the above received on-air-listinformation to the page information generating section 1036 and alsotransmits that service session ID information or the like received fromthe radio broadcasting information distribution server 1006 to theauthentication processing section 1037.

The authentication processing section 1037 temporarily stores theservice session ID information that was received from the radiobroadcasting information distribution server 1006 and of which the validperiod was extended or the like, in the authentication informationstoring section 1038, under the control of the control section 1023, byoverwriting on the service session ID information or the like beforethat the valid period was extended. Thereby, the contents of the servicesession ID information or the like already temporarily stored in theabove authentication information storing section 1038 are updated.

Further, the page information generating section 1036 generates videodata based on the on-air-list information supplied from the controlsection 1023, converts the above generated video data into an analogvideo signal by the display control section 1024 and transmits thesignal to the display section 1025. Thereby, the on-air-list informationis displayed in the above display section 1025 as an image based on thatanalog video signal.

In this manner, the client terminal 1002 can make the user obtaindesired on-air-list information by using the radio broadcast informationdistribution service provided by the radio broadcasting informationdistribution server 1006.

(3-7-3-4) Now-on-air Information Distribution Service ProvidingProcessing Procedure

Next, with reference to FIG. 24, a radio broadcasting informationdistribution service providing processing procedure when the clientterminal 1002 especially receives the provision of a now-on-airinformation distribution service from the radio broadcasting informationdistribution server 1006 as a radio broadcasting informationdistribution service will be described.

However, the radio broadcasting information distribution server 1006which provides now-on-air information is provided in each radio station(call sign).

Then, there is a case where in the initial state, URL information aboutthe radio broadcasting information distribution server 1006corresponding to each radio station has not been stored in the clientterminal 1002.

Therefore, as to the radio broadcasting information distribution serviceproviding processing procedure below, the case where the URL informationabout each radio broadcasting information distribution server 1006 ismanaged by the portal server 1003 every call sign of a radio stationwill be described as an example.

Further, in the above radio broadcasting information distributionservice providing processing procedure, the case where when the clientterminal 1002 requests the portal server 1003 to transmit frequencyinformation showing the broadcasting frequency in order to automaticallypreset the broadcast frequency of each radio station, authenticationsession ID information or the like has not been temporarily stored inthe authentication information storing section 1038 is assumed. Thus,the client terminal 1002 first transmits user ID information andpassword information or the like to the portal server 1003.

In step SP1070, if an operating command to request to automaticallypreset the broadcast frequency of each radio station is inputted fromthe input processing section 1021, in response to this, the controlsection 1023 in the client terminal 1002 transmits a frequencyinformation request signal that requests to obtain frequency informationabout receivable broadcasting frequency of each radio station, togetherwith an area code inputted by the user and user ID information andpassword information or the like stored in the authenticationinformation storing section 1038, to the portal server 1003 sequentiallyvia the communication control section 1032 and the network interface1033.

In step SP1071, the control section 1050 in the portal server 1003receives the frequency information request signal, area code, user IDinformation, and password information or the like transmitted from theclient terminal 1002, sequentially via the network interface 1053 andthe communication control section 1052, and transmits that user IDinformation and password information or the like received from theclient terminal 1002 to the authentication processing section 1056.

The authentication processing section 1056 performs user authenticationprocessing by comparing the user ID information and password informationor the like received from the client terminal 1002 with customerinformation registered in the customer database section 1054, under thecontrol of the control section 1050.

As a result, if the authentication processing section 1056 authenticatesthe user using the client terminal 1002 as a regular user and determinesthe frequency information acquisition request from the above clientterminal 1002 as a legal request, authentication session ID informationor the like to the current communication connected state between theclient terminal 1002 and the portal server 1003 is issued, and the aboveissued authentication session ID information or the like is temporarilystored in the authentication information storing section 1057, under thecontrol of the control section 1050.

If the user is authenticated as a regular user by the authenticationprocessing section 1056 as the above, the control section 1050 proceedsto the next step SP1072.

In step SP1072, the control section 1050 searches for frequencyinformation, radio station name and a call sign that corresponds to thearea code from the list of plural frequency information, radio stationnames and call signs in the frequency information storing section 1058based on the area code received from the client terminal 1002, liststhem, and reads it out.

The control section 1050 transmits the frequency information, radiostation name and call sign thus listed and read from the frequencyinformation storing section 1058, together with the authenticationsession ID information or the like issued to the client terminal 1002 bythe authentication processing section 1056 in the aforementioned stepSP1071, to the client terminal 1002 sequentially via the communicationcontrol section 1052 and the network interface 1053.

In step SP1073, the control section 1023 in the client terminal 1002receives the list of the frequency information, radio station name andcall sign, and the authentication session ID information or the like,that were transmitted from the portal server 1003, sequentially via thenetwork interface 1033 and the communication control section 1032, andtransmits the above authentication session ID information or the likereceived from the portal server 1003 to the authentication processingsection 1037, and also transmits the list of the frequency information,radio station name and call sign to the display control section 1024.

The authentication processing section 1037 temporarily stores theauthentication session ID information or the like received from theportal server 1003 in the authentication information storing section1038, under the control of the control section 1023.

On the other hand, the display control section 1024 transmits the listof the frequency information, radio station name and call sign suppliedfrom the control section 1023 to the display section 1025, so that thelist is displayed in the above display section 1025.

Further, the control section 1023 stores the frequency information,radio station name and call sign selected based on a select commandinputted from the input processing section 1021 at this time, in thestorage medium 1029 as presetting, and proceeds to the next step SP1074.

In step SP1074, the control section 1023 controls the tuner section 1031to extract the radio broadcasting signal of radio broadcastingbroadcasted at a broadcast frequency corresponding to a tuning controlcommand from radio broadcast waves, according to the tuning controlcommand inputted from the input processing section 1021.

Thereby, the tuner section 1031 extracts the radio broadcasting signalbroadcasted at that broadcast frequency from among radio broadcast wavesreceived by the broadcast signal receiving section 30, performspredetermined receiving processing such as decoding to the extractedsignal, and transmits thus obtained audio data to the audio controlsection 1026.

The audio control section 1026 converts the audio data supplied from thetuner section 1031 into an analog audio signal, and transmits the signalto the speaker 1027. Thus, the sound of the selected radio program canbe emitted from the above speaker 1027.

In step SP1075, the radio broadcasting display control section 1039reads the call sign that has been stored corresponding to the frequencyinformation showing a broadcast frequency corresponding to theaforementioned tuning control command from the storage medium 1029,under the control of the control section 1029, and transmits the aboveread call sign, together with the authentication session ID informationor the like already temporarily stored in the authentication informationstoring section 1038, to the portal server 1003 sequentially via thecommunication control section 1032 and the network interface 1033.

In step SP1076, the control section 1050 in the portal server 1003receives the call sign and the authentication session ID information orthe like transmitted from the client terminal 1002, sequentially via thenetwork interface 1053 and the communication control section 1052, andtransmits the above received authentication session ID information orthe like to the authentication processing section 1056.

The authentication processing section 1056 performs user authenticationprocessing by comparing the authentication session ID information or thelike received from the client terminal 1002 with the authenticationsession ID information or the like already temporarily stored in theauthentication information storing section 1057, under the control ofthe control section 1050.

As a result, if the authentication session ID information or the likereceived from the client terminal 1002 is before the valid period andthe user who transmitted the call sign by using the above clientterminal 1002 is authenticated as a regular user by the authenticationprocessing section 1056, the control section 1050 proceeds to the nextstep SP1077.

In step SP1077, the control section 1050 retrieves URL informationconnected with the call sign from among plural URL information in theURL storing section 1059, based on the call sign received from theclient terminal 1002.

Further, the control section 1050 extends the valid period of theauthentication session ID information or the like issued to the clientterminal 1002 by the authentication processing section 1056.

Then, the control section 1050 reads that retrieved URL information fromthe URL storing section 1059, and transmits the above read URLinformation, together with the authentication session ID information ofwhich the valid period was extended by the authentication processingsection 1056 or the like, to the client terminal 1002 sequentially viathe communication control section 1052 and the network interface 1053.

In step SP1078, the control section 1023 in the client terminal 1002receives the URL information and the authentication session IDinformation of which the valid period was extended or the like that wastransmitted from the portal server 1003, sequentially via the networkinterface 1033 and the communication control section 1032, and transmitsthe above received authentication session ID information or the like tothe authentication processing section 1037 and also transmits the URLinformation to the radio broadcasting display control section 1039.

The authentication processing section 1037 temporarily stores theauthentication session ID information that was received from the portalserver 1003 and of which the valid period was extended or the like, inthe authentication information storing section 1038, under the controlof the control section 1023, by overwriting on the authenticationsession ID information or the like before that the valid period wasextended. Thereby, the contents of the authentication session IDinformation or the like already temporarily stored in the aboveauthentication information storing section 1038 are updated.

On the other hand, the radio broadcasting display control section 1039temporarily stores the above URL information supplied from the controlsection 1023 in the storage medium 1029 or the like in connection withthe call sign stored in the storage medium 1029, under the control ofthe control section 1023.

Then, the radio broadcasting display control section 1039 transmits anow-on-air information request signal that requests to obtain now-on-airinformation, together with the service session ID information or thelike that was already received from the radio broadcasting informationdistribution server 1006 and has been temporarily stored in theauthentication information storing section 1038, to the radiobroadcasting information distribution server 1006 sequentially via thecommunication control section 1032 and the network interface 1033,according to the URL information temporarily stored in the storagemedium 1029 or the like, under the control of the control section 1023.

Here, in the above radio broadcasting information distribution serviceproviding processing procedure, the processing for transmitting thenow-on-air information request signal and the service session IDinformation or the like from the client terminal 1002 to the radiobroadcasting information distribution server 1006 in step SP1078corresponds to the processing in the aforementioned step SP1010 withreference to FIG. 20.

Therefore, in this radio broadcasting information distribution serviceproviding processing procedure, following the processing in step SP1078,in the client terminal 1002, the radio broadcasting informationdistribution server 1006 and the portal server 1003, the same userauthentication processing as the processing in steps SP1011-SP1013 andsteps SP1018-SP1022 described above with reference to FIG. 20 issequentially performed, and then the control section 1039 proceeds tothe next step SP1079.

In step SP1079, the radio broadcasting display control section 1039 inthe client terminal 1002 transmits again a now-on-air informationrequest signal, together with the service session ID information or thelike that was already received from the radio broadcasting informationdistribution server 1006 and has been temporarily stored in theauthentication information storing section 1038, to the radiobroadcasting information distribution server 1006 sequentially via thecommunication control section 1032 and the network interface 1033,according to the URL information temporarily stored in the storagemedium 1029 or the like, under the control of the control section 1023.

In step SP1080, the control section 1110 in the radio broadcastinginformation distribution server 1006 receives the now-on-air informationrequest signal and the service session ID information or the liketransmitted from the client terminal 1002, sequentially via the networkinterface 1113 and the communication control section 1112, and transmitsthe above received authentication session ID information or the like tothe authentication processing section 1115.

The authentication processing section 1115 performs user authenticationprocessing by comparing the service session ID information or the likereceived from the client terminal 1002 with the service session IDinformation or the like already temporarily stored in the authenticationinformation storing section 1120, under the control of the controlsection 1110.

As a result, if authenticating the user using the client terminal 1002as a regular user, the authentication processing section 1115 determinesthat the now-on-air information acquisition request from the aboveclient terminal 1002 is a legal request.

If the user using the client terminal 1002 is authenticated as a regularuser by the authentication processing section 1115, the control section1110 makes the above authentication processing section 1115 extend thevalid period of the service session ID information or the like issued tothat client terminal 1002, and then proceeds to the next step SP1081.

In step SP1081, the control section 1110 reads now-on-air informationfrom the now-on-air information storing section 1119, and transmits theabove read now-on-air information, together with the service session IDinformation of which the valid period was extended by the authenticationprocessing section 1115 or the like, to the client terminal 1002sequentially via the communication control section 1112 and the networkinterface 1113.

In step SP1082, the control section 1023 in the client terminal 1002receives the now-on-air information transmitted from the radiobroadcasting information distribution server 1006, and the servicesession ID information of which the valid period was extended or thelike, sequentially via the network interface 1033 and the communicationcontrol section 1032, and transmits the above received service sessionID information or the like to the authentication processing section1037, and also temporarily stores the now-on-air information in a randomaccess memory (RAM, not shown) in the above control section 1023, andtransmits the now-on-air information to the radio broadcasting displaycontrol section 1039.

The authentication processing section 1037 temporarily stores theservice session ID information that was received from the radiobroadcasting information distribution server 1006 and of which the validperiod was extended or the like, in the authentication informationstoring section 1038, under the control of the control section 1023, byoverwriting on the service session ID information or the like beforethat the valid period was extended. Thereby, the contents of the servicesession ID information or the like already temporarily stored in theabove authentication information storing section 1038 are updated.

The radio broadcasting display control section 1039 transmits thenow-on-air information supplied from the control section 1023 to thedisplay section 1025 via the display control section 1024. Thereby, thenow-on-air information about the radio program by the radio broadcastingbeing received now is displayed in the above display section 1025.

After this, in the above radio broadcasting information distributionservice providing processing procedure, the client terminal 1002periodically repeats the now-on-air information acquisition request instep SP1079 (for example, every 30 seconds), and the radio broadcastinginformation distribution server 1006 receives that acquisition requestfrom the client terminal 1002 and sequentially performs the processingof steps SP1080 and SP1081.

Thereby, in the client terminal 1002, the program title of the radioprogram being received now, the broadcasting start time of the program,the broadcasting end time of the program, the title, the artist name ofthe musical composition being broadcasted now in that radio program, thebroadcasting start time of the musical composition, and the like can bemomentarily updated as now-on-air information, and can be displayed inthe display section 1025 in the client terminal 1002.

Furthermore, in this second embodiment, also if a pleased musicalcomposition is broadcasted, and the user of the client terminal 1002 andclips radio broadcasting information (that is, now-on-air information)about that musical composition while listening to the radiobroadcasting, the above client terminal 1002, the portal server 1003 andthe radio broadcasting information distribution server 1006 perform theprocessing of steps SP1078 to SP1082.

However, in the case where an input to direct a clip is received fromthe user, in the processing of step SP1082, the control section 1023 inthe client terminal 1002 stores the obtained now-on-air information inthe storage medium 1029, similarly to the first embodiment.

According to the above structure, the same effects as the firstembodiment can be obtained also in the music related service provisionsystem 1000 according to this second embodiment.

Note that, in the aforementioned first and second embodiments, it hasdealt with the case where the related information provided from thebroadcasting station server 32 and the radio broadcasting informationdistribution server 1006 is clipped by the terminal unit 10 and theclient terminal 1002. In the above terminal unit 10 and client terminal1002, however, also related information provided from the other servercan be clipped. That is, when musical compositions of which relatedinformation can be clipped are displayed in the display device 17 andthe display section 1025, if the user starts clip operation by selectingthe musical composition, corresponding related information is stored inthe clip information storage unit 21 a and the storage medium 1029.

The clip information stored in the terminal unit 10 and the clientterminal 1002 can be used for the search of a musical composition,purchase of audio data, purchase of a CD and a DVD, and the like, bythat the user accesses the CD title information provision server 31, themusic distribution server 33, the CD shop server 34, the music datadistribution server 1004, and the trade server 1005, or the like, fromthe above terminal unit 10 and client terminal 1002.

Further, each processing function described in the aforementioned firstand second embodiments is realized by a program to be executed by theCPU 11 of the terminal unit 10 and the control section 1023 of theclient terminal 1002. Such program is stored by installing in the HDD21, the ROM 13 and the storage medium 1029, for example.

Or, the program can be temporarily or perpetually stored in a removablerecording medium such as a flexible disk, a compact disc read-onlymemory (CD-ROM), a magneto-optical (MO) disc, a DVD, a magnetic disk,and a semiconductor memory. Such removable recording medium can beprovided as the so-called package software.

For instance, if it is the first embodiment, the program can be recordedin media or the like usable in the media drives 19 a, 19 b, and themedia can be provided as package software. Thus, in the terminal unit10, the program can be installed by reading the program from the media,with the media drives 19 a, 19 b and storing it in the HDD 21 and theROM 13. Furthermore, by setting as such package software, the systemprogram to which the present invention is applied can be installed alsoto a general purpose personal computer, for example. Of course, also inthe second embodiment, the program may be recorded in package softwareand may be installed in a personal computer or the like.

Further, the program also can be downloaded from a server storing theprogram via a network such as a local area network (LAN) and theInternet, in addition to installation from the removable recordingmedium as the above.

Furthermore, an updating program to add later a processing function towhich the present invention is applied may be created, and this updateprogram may be distributed as package software or may be distributed onthe network. The user may get this updating program, and may installthis updating program in the environment in that the existent system hasbeen installed.

In the aforementioned second embodiment, it has dealt with the casewhere the client terminal 1002 serving as a communication apparatus isformed by using the communication control section 1032 serving as firsttransmission means, first receiving means, second transmission means andsecond receiving means, the control section 1023 serving astemporarily-storing means, the display section 1025 serving as displaymeans, and the storage medium 1029 serving as storage means. However,the present invention is not only limited to this but also acommunication apparatus may be formed by other first transmission means,first receiving means, second transmission means, second receivingmeans, temporarily storing means, display means and storage means havingother various circuit configurations.

Further, in the aforementioned first and second embodiments, radiobroadcasting broadcasted from a radio station is applied to thebroadcasting that can be received by the terminal unit 10 and the clientterminal 1002. However, the present invention is not only limited tothis but also the terminal unit 10 and the client terminal 1002 mayreceive Internet radio broadcasting and satellite radio broadcasting andmay obtain related information and radio broadcasting information aboutthe broadcasting, or may receive television broadcasting broadcastedfrom a broadcasting station for television and may obtain variousbroadcasting information or the like on television programs by thetelevision broadcasting from a server on the network.

Furthermore, in the aforementioned first and second embodiments, it hasdealt with the case where the hardware circuit blocks, the functionalcircuit blocks and the program modules are mounted in the terminal unit10 and the client terminal 1002. However, the present invention is notonly limited to this but also they may be mounted in various terminalsother than the terminal unit 10 and the client terminal 1002, such as acellular phone and a personal computer. Provided that it is a terminalhaving these hardware circuit blocks, functional circuit blocks andprogram modules, the same processing as the aforementioned terminal unit10 and client terminal 1002 can be realized.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention can be utilized also in various network systemssuch as a service for providing video contents, in addition to a networksystem for providing a music related service.

1. A communication method comprising: the first transmission step ofsuccessively transmitting request information that requests relatedinformation concerning contents in a broadcasting program beingreceived, at specified intervals; the first receiving step of receivingrelated information corresponding to said request informationtransmitted in the first transmission step; the temporarily-storing stepof temporarily storing said related information received in the firstreceiving step in temporarily-storing means; the display step ofdisplaying said related information temporarily stored in thetemporarily-storing step; the second transmission step of transmittingrequest information that requests related information about contents,according to an input that directs to store said related informationabout the contents; the second receiving step of receiving relatedinformation corresponding to said request information transmitted in thesecond transmission step; and the storing step of storing said relatedinformation received in the second receiving step in storing means. 2.The communication method according to claim 1, wherein; in said storingstep of storing said related information received in the secondreceiving step in said storing means, said related information receivedin the second receiving step is stored in said storing means via saidtemporarily-storing means.
 3. A communication method comprising: thefirst terminal transmission step of successively transmitting requestinformation that requests related information concerning contents in abroadcasting program being received at specified intervals, by aterminal apparatus; the first server transmission step of transmittingrelated information corresponding to said request information to saidterminal apparatus, by a server providing said related information; thefirst terminal receiving step of receiving said related informationtransmitted by the first server transmission step, by said terminalapparatus; the temporarily-storing step of temporarily storing saidrelated information received in the first terminal receiving step intemporarily-storing means, by said terminal apparatus; the display stepof displaying said related information temporarily stored in thetemporarily-storing step, by said terminal apparatus; the secondterminal transmission step of transmitting request information thatrequests related information about contents, according to an input thatdirects to store said related information about the contents, by saidterminal apparatus; the second server transmission step of transmittingrelated information corresponding to said request informationtransmitted in the second terminal transmission step to said terminalapparatus, by said server; and the storing step of storing said relatedinformation transmitted in the second server transmission step instoring means, by said terminal apparatus.
 4. The communication methodaccording to claim 3, wherein: said server is separated into anauthentication server having authentication function, and a relatedinformation provision server for providing related information; in saidfirst terminal transmission step, said terminal apparatus transmitsrequest information that requests related information concerningcontents in a broadcasting program being received to said relatedinformation provision server, together with a service session ID that isa session ID with said related information provision server; whenauthentication processing was performed by said service session ID andthe result was an authentication error, said related informationprovision server transmits information showing the authentication errorand service identification information for identifying the above relatedinformation provision server to said terminal apparatus; said terminalapparatus receives said information showing the authentication error andsaid service identification information; said terminal apparatustransmits authentication ticket issuance request information thatrequests issuance of an authentication ticket to access said relatedinformation provision server to said authentication server, togetherwith an authentication session ID that is a session ID with the aboveauthentication server; when authentication processing of saidauthentication session ID was performed and the authentication waspermitted, said authentication server issues an authentication ticketand transmits this to said terminal apparatus; said terminal apparatustransmits authentication request information to said related informationprovision server, together with said authentication ticket; said relatedinformation provision server transmits the received authenticationticket to said authentication server; if authenticating saidauthentication ticket as legal, said authentication server transmitsinformation showing permission of authentication to said relatedinformation provision server; if receiving said information showingpermission of authentication, said related information provision serverissues a service session ID that is a session ID with said terminalapparatus and transmits this to said terminal apparatus; said terminalapparatus transmits request information that requests said relatedinformation to said related information provision server, together withsaid received service session ID, similarly to said first terminaltransmission step; and when authentication processing was performed bysaid service session ID and the authentication was permitted, saidrelated information provision server transmits related informationcorresponding to said request information to said terminal apparatus,similarly to said first server transmission step.
 5. The communicationmethod according to claim 4, wherein: if said authentication serverperforms authentication processing of said authentication session ID andthe result is an authentication error, said authentication servertransmits information showing the authentication error to said terminalapparatus; if receiving said information showing the authenticationerror, said terminal apparatus transmits a user ID and a password tosaid authentication server; if said authentication server performsauthentication processing based on said user ID and password and permitsthe authentication, said authentication server issues an authenticationsession ID that is a session ID with the authentication server andtransmits this to said terminal apparatus; and then said terminalapparatus transmits said authentication ticket issuance requestinformation to said authentication server, together with saidauthentication session ID.
 6. A communication apparatus comprising:first transmission means for successively transmitting requestinformation that requests related information concerning contents in abroadcasting program being received, at specified intervals; firstreceiving means for receiving related information corresponding to saidrequest information transmitted by the first transmission means;temporarily-storing means for temporarily storing said relatedinformation received by the first receiving means; display means fordisplaying said related information stored in the temporarily-storingmeans; second transmission means for transmitting request informationthat requests related information about contents, according to an inputthat directs to store said related information about the contents;second receiving means for receiving related information correspondingto said request information transmitted by the second transmissionmeans; and storing means for storing said related information receivedby the second receiving means.
 7. The communication apparatus accordingto claim 6, wherein; said related information received by the secondreceiving means is stored in said storing means, via saidtemporarily-storing means.
 8. The communication apparatus according toclaim 6, wherein; said temporarily-storing means is a volatile storagemedium.
 9. The communication apparatus according to claim 6, wherein;said storing means is a nonvolatile storage medium.
 10. A program formaking a computer perform the processing: for successively transmittingrequest information that requests related information concerningcontents in a broadcasting program being received, at specifiedintervals; for receiving related information corresponding to thetransmitted request information; for temporarily storing the receivedrelated information in temporarily-storing means; for displaying saidrelated information temporarily stored in the temporarily-storing means;for transmitting request information that requests related informationabout contents, according to an input that directs to store said relatedinformation about the contents; for receiving related informationcorresponding to the request information transmitted according to theinput that directs to store said related information about the contents;and for storing the received related information corresponding to therequest information transmitted according to the input that directs tostore said related information about the contents, in storing means.